Duke
Over the past twenty years I’ve shared my life with horses, yet,
I’ve always wondered what took me so long to discover them. Oh, I
grew up with childhood fantasies of horses brought on by TV shows
like “My Friend Flicka”, “Fury”, “The Lone Ranger” and “Mr Ed,” as
well as movies like, “Black Beauty”, “The Black Stallion”, “Lonely
Are the Brave” and “National Velvet.” I’m still a sucker today for
the contemporary stories of “The Horse Whisperer,” “Secretariat”
and the new “War Horse.” Mostly, these are all stories of true
heart, guts, soul and love. They pretty much illustrate the fact
that man has learned much about life through the wisdom of his
horses.
Of course, these days it’s easy to forget the impact horses have
had on our lives. Before the invention of the automobile, horses
throughout much of the world were our only means of transportation.
Not only used as ATVs and farm workers (before tractors) but as
companions too. And we’ve always learned from the lives of our
horses.
We’ve learned from their spirit, their sweetness, lust for freedom
and their trust in humanity. Yes, today horses are simply obsolete,
for all practical purposes. Completely low-tech, high energy and
high maintenance, still, every horse owner recognizes their sheer
magnificence.
Here are ten lessons my horse, Duke, an awesome, 26 year old, 16
hand, chestnut, flaxen-maned, Tennesse Walking Horse gelding has
taught me.
I should say that I’m not claiming to be an expert in horse
psychology nor in horsemanship, western riding, equine science,
training or care. However, I have dedicated a large part of my life
to the welfare of my horses and to the discipline of modern day
horsemanship.
For the sake of simplicity, I’ve borrowed a few maxims from a
little book I keep in my studio called, “All I Need to Know I
learned From My Horse,” by Pamela C. Biddle and Joel Fishman.
1)
Horses can’t talk but they can speak if you
listen.
The heart of a horse is wide open. Unlike us, they do not suppress
emotion. You can communicate with a horse by watching his
movements. Position of the ears, sweetness in the eyes, bowing,
jerking or shaking of the head, pawing and many other natural body
movements are signs of communication. This is how they relate to
each other in the wild among their herds. They can read our body
language much better than we can among ourselves. Understand this
and the horse becomes trainable, bonding with his handler in mutual
respect.
Part of our training and our job as actors/voice actors is to
“listen” well and observe closely. Before we can bring a character
to life... one who really touches people’s hearts...we need to
practice and refine this behavior. Listening closely works pretty
well in business too.
2)
A steady hand is better than a harsh bit.
In the days of the Old West cowboys often rode with harsh bits in
the mouths of their horses, believing that “braun” was better than
“brain.”
They muscled their horses about as slaves rather than with the
modern philosophy of partnership. Partnering is a term used today
in business. To me this is achieved through understanding, grace,
trust and good communication skills with clients and
associates.
3)
You learn more from a bad ride then a good
one.
A bad ride can more likely be blamed on the rider and not the
horse.
While learning to ride, I realized that horses are calm and
cooperative when you are. I’ve always been somewhat hard-headed...
or so I’m told, sometimes learning things the hard way. A key to
business success is learning from your mistakes rather than
repeating them. Then riding on down the trail with confidence and
know-how.
4)
Once the jump is under you it’s too late to look at
it.
Horses sometimes have more sense than people. They just keep moving
forward. Learning from our mistakes is vital but dwelling on them
is fruitless. What’s done is done. The attention span of a horse is
only 3 seconds. After that he’s ready for the next thing. Likewise,
after the botched audition, instead of beating yourself up about
what you could have done better, it’s best to put it out of your
mind. It’s too late to go back and do it again anyway.
5)
A good heart beats a pretty head every
time.
It takes more than just being a purebred to make a great
horse.Those of you who feel much freer and more comfortable behind
the mic than in front of the camera can relate to this. As voice
actors, our best performances are those that reach out and touch
the listener. Who cares how pretty we may look behind the mic?
Microphones can’t see, they can only feel.
6)
A swish of the tail at regular intervals keeps most
pests away.
A simple natural action. In other words, watch your back! Trust is
commendable but naivete can be detrimental. Brush aside the
naysayers and focus on moving forward. Rely on your own judgement
but look back once in a while to keep predators at bay. And to see
how far you’ve come.
7)
Know the course before you mount the
horse.
The horse surely knows the way. If you are new to voice acting (or
any other skilled profession) do your homework before getting in
too deep with equipment expenses, client services, marketing
expenses and such. A young foal learns to trot before he can
canter.
There’s a wealth of resources available on the World Wide Web, your
public library or community book store. Read up on your new
profession.
Choose your sources wisely. Ask a working pro which sources are the
ones most valuable to him or her, rather than asking too broad a
question such as, “How do I get into voice acting?”
8)
Riding well is the best revenge.
Show off your riding skills. As I said earlier, keep the naysayers
at bay as well as other negative influences. Concentrate instead on
being the best professional you can be. Revenge is sweet when
you’ve become accomplished... leaving others in the dust who are
lazy, misguided, unskilled or unscrupulous.
9)
Never end an exercize on a bad note.
To build confidence leave the session on a happy note. The best way
to do this is to ask the horse to perform something he already
knows how to do. He leaves confidently, ready for the next session.
End your own recording session, phone conversation or email message
on a good happy note. Stay positive and forward-thinking when
dealing with clients and with the industry as a whole.
10)
Graze in the same spot too long and you’ll end up with
a mouthful of dirt. Horses always find the green
grass.
Gaining new ground in any business is vital to its prosperity,
longevity and growth, especially a business such as voice acting
accomanied by so much high technology. But then again, what
business today isn’t?
Keeping up with and understanding its evolving phases will help
keep your business in the spotlight.
On Friday, February 3, 2012, my beloved horse, Duke, passed away.
He was 26 years old... 78 in human years. One of the hardest things
in life I’ve ever done was to let him go and allow him a dignified
death. Despite the years of care and love we gave him, time and an
injury took it’s toll on his aging legs and he could no longer
support the weight of his own body.
Duke is survived by Majik, our 16 year old chestnut, flaxen-mained
Arabian mare and Jett, our black, 12 year old Tennessee Walking
Horse gelding. Along with our two beautiful dogs, Jessie (F), a 10
year old, Red Tri Australian Shepherd (Aussie) and Cody (M), a 10
year old Shaded Sable Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie), our 11 year old
barn cat, Pistol and newly adopted family member, (abandoned
by a neighbor) a handsome, multi-colored rooster, Rowdy. And of
course by wife, Mickie, and myself.
I hope you found this article beneficial to your business and
personal life.
It has allowed me to collect my thoughts and most certainly was
theraputic in honoring the memory of my first horse, Duke. May he
rest in peace in Horse Heaven.
Email: rick@ricklancestudio.com
Website: www.ricklancestudio.com
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