Gosh I love football season! First, it is LONG....seems to go on forever: August into February this year! Then, I love those shows where they mic the players and we get to hear all the things that are being said on the field....well maybe not all; okay, I'm sure not all! I also think it is pretty cool how there are pros from other teams that are good friends and they tease each other in a good natured sort of way. Maybe another reason I love football is the fact that it is easy, in my mind, to compare it to sheepdoggin'. All the pre-season work and discipline, needing to trust teammates at a distance, the intuitive changes made by the quarterback, so much unpredictability!
I also love the quotes....last night I caught a great one:
"The most important play is the next play!"
I remember a talk that I got from a top handler one time. It went something like this....everyone makes mistakes on the trial field. However, you can hardly tell when the good handlers make one. Their response time is very quick, they don't change their demeanor, and they move on, not dwelling on the mistake.
The most important step is the next step.....not the step you just made, nor the step that is going to happen in 20 steps...the next step.
Isn't this all a metaphor for life?. Not dwelling on mistakes of the past, nor worrying about what might happen in the future.....the most important play is the next play.
Seize the Day!
$6510 for Oklahoma (and Mixer Winners Announced!)
14 hours ago
I love your blog posts. I think we are kindred spirits in that I can always find a connection between working stock and everything else. LOL!
ReplyDeleteOh Donna, indeed if that is how you see "things" we are kindred spirits!!!! Are you an over-thinker? I'm collecting those ;)
ReplyDeleteYep, you can add me to your over-thinker list. That's another reason I frequently check your blog for new entries. You give me so much to think about : ) You feed my habit. It's so hard to just let things "be" without thinking about them. The thinking part of herding is part of what really appeals to me. I just wish I could get to the point that it all happens and I am reacting appropriately in the moment and not thinking about what I should have done at some point after the fact. That's why I love to watch the great handlers. You know they are thinking, probably ten steps ahead of where they are, but they are so experienced and talented that it appears they are merely reacting.
ReplyDeleteWelcome sista Over-thinker! For me, I would way rather over-think about sheep and dogs and all of that...than all the other drama that a person could think upon. I always say..."sheepdogs keep me out of the bars!" I'm amazed at how top handlers read sheep...they seem to know what the sheep are going to do before they do it. That is one of my goals for this year...as much sheep work as I can get and paying close attention to those details of sheep...instead of just getting the job done. We'll see how that works for me!
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm, it is real one play at a time? Is the next play truely the most important play? Interesting fodder my friend.
ReplyDeleteCertainly I can see that as a way to keep focus.I know of times when I have looked back and said right there that's the play that changed the game either good or not so good.
I think putting too much weight on the next play can take one's eyes off the long game. I'm always in it for the long game, asking myself is this the move that gets me closer to where I want to be, farther or is it going to keep me here a while longer.
I think of herding stock as setting up a chain reaction, yes I am making one play at at time, but each play is linking me to the next. The play I make is going to depend on what my long game is, so I have to hold 2 things in my head at once, my short game and my long game. Sometimes I think I need more head space :P
Working these dogs on stock is like play chess on a board with pieces that move on their own. Yes one play at a time, but each play needs to move towards your long game.
Oh sister grasshopper....ask the hander who had a plan for penning at Trailing of the Sheep how his shed went. Indeed.....the next play is the most important...and once that play is over, the next, and so on and so forth. For me, I am working on living in the now. I do indeed have a plan but for me, personally, it is about now. Reading now. Seeing now. Anticipating now. This also gives me great freedom to forgive my mistakes while not worrying about the future. Now that said.....I agree with all you wrote too! Soldier on, wise Jedi.......soldier on!
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