His name is Aramis, and he’s my dancing partner. I’ve had three dressage partners in my life – Binkie van het Oosterland, a Friesian that was on this earth with me for only two wonderful years; Fergy, a Dutch Warmblood who was my best girl for 13 years and now Aramis, a talented Friesian who has taken me to a whole other level in the past four years.

It is amazing what they have taught me, and it has carried over into all aspects of my work and personal life. What have I learned? Patience, persistence, strength, the ability to ride through the rough times, devotion and true responsibility.

Patience and Persistence

When I began riding classical dressage, I was the most impatient person I knew. I wanted things to happen “right now,” never later. I learned that patience and persistence breeds success. In today’s world, where everything moves so fast, I’ve learned that it is better to slow down, think things through carefully and apply each lesson to the task at hand. That old adage, “Slow and steady wins the race,” isn’t false. Impatience caused me to make mistakes and spend more time at something because I was inefficient. Being efficient in business saves both time and money, but one can’t be efficient without learning from mistakes.

Strength

I’ve said it before. I used to see myself as a weak person. When faced with something that took physical strength, I would just give up immediately. But that cannot happen in dressage and riding a horse. A rider has to apply core strength to supply the aids from the seat and legs to move a 1,300-pound horse around while appearing to barely move. The belief that I was weak got me in a lot of trouble in this area. Can you spell “failure?” One day, while trying to open up a baby-proof cap on a Listerine bottle, I realized that, once again, I was giving up before I even got started. I summoned all my strength and opened the damned thing. This was something I was not only doing in my riding, but in my life! So, I started opening that imaginary Listerine bottle cap every time I needed strength. Can you imagine the success that has evolved from that – not just in my riding but in every aspect of my life?

Riding Through It

Horse trainers use an expression when a client’s ride becomes difficult – “keep riding through it!” I’ve heard it a hundred times while riding my horse. Riding through it is a function of good horsemanship. If you give up or get off in the midst of difficulties, you might win the battle that day but lose the war in the long run. Learning to be really good at something takes time and the ability to hang on during the tough times. Such it is with life. Think about it!

Devotion and True Responsibility

The responsibility of owning an animal is one that many people take lightly. The way they handle it shows me the level of devotion to which they will commit to anything. It takes true responsibility, in the good times, bad times, during sickness and even when we are short on cash, to make it happen. But devotion means remaining responsible at all times and doing what is right for that animal. Too many people are willing to discard an animal, which is totally dependent upon them, when it doesn’t suit their needs anymore. I wonder what will happen when their friends or life partners don’t suit their needs. Don’t think it is the same thing? You would be wrong.

Binkie and Fergy are gone now, but the lessons rhey taught me, combined with my ongoing lessons from Aramis, are gifts that I treasure.

Action Item: Tell me what your animals have taught you.

I subscribe to fellow author Kristen Lamb's blog. She posted this one a few days ago, and I thought it so clever that I wanted to share it with my readers.

Hope you enjoy!

Does Writing Quickly Produce Inferior Work?

How Do I Begin to Write a Book?

One might consider me strange, but my ideas come to me in dreams or in messages from other people. The premise for Luke’s Tale came to me in a dream about a year after I wrote my first book. Around that time, I went for a psychic reading for my birthday. I told the psychic nothing about myself…yet; she told me that the angels around me, my guardians, were urging me to write a book about unconditional love. This freaked me out! Then, afterward, I had the original dream again. So, I really had no choice in the matter.

On top of everything, my yellow lab Luke is/was my hero. He was a therapy dog and so dedicated to me. When he was six, he was diagnosed with Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) for which there is no cure. Complete blindness was the result. Even after that, he continued to bravely go everywhere with me, gently feeling his way with his paws and sticking to me like Velcro. He continued his therapy dogging long after he went blind and brought joy to hundreds of hospital and nursing home patients. He was my inspiration. I made him the narrator of Luke’s Tale, because the book’s message is unconditional love. What other creature except a dog exemplifies unconditional love?

The book I am currently writing, entitled Snow Blood, came to me as the result of a dog named Snow that I had fostered and placed in his forever home, along with a conversation I had with my daughter about vampires. We both love vampire stories…and contrived this one together.

  How Do my Ideas for Materials Develop?

This will make readers laugh, but it’s true. William Faulkner said it best: “It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.” For me, that’s the way it works. Once I know my characters, they come alive and are a life of their own. They move through the story and fall out of my mind onto the page.

  How long does it take to write a book?

Riding Through It, my first book, took several years. My second book, Luke’s Tale, took just a little over a year. I think I should be able to finish Snow Blood, within six months. I am making progress!

Where do you find the time to write?

I am a working writer. By that, I mean I have other authors with whom I work to develop their stories as well as corporate clients for whom I write everything under the sun. So, writing for myself occurs after work and on weekends.

Do you have a desk? An Office?

I definitely have a desk and a formal office. But, the office is littered with the sleeping bodies of my two dogs, so it’s not normal by any means! All one can hear is their soft snoring and the clacking of my fingers on my computer. Wait! Does that mean I’ve bored them to death? Let’s hope not!

Here’s a final thought. We all have great stories within us, but some of us have no other choice but to write them. It’s part of breathing for us. The things that we experience, feel and think compel us to write. For me, there’s no other way.

1.     To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

It won the Pulitzer Prize. Lee’s talent for narration is unsurpassed.  The novel is full of warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. Atticus Finch is probably one of the most enduring and endearing fictional characters ever developed. Scout, Jem, Dill and Boo are unforgettable and beloved characters to me.

2.     Gone with The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

What can I say? I was born and raised in the South. Scarlett O’Hara is one of the most infuriating characters ever created, yet I loved her. The story is concerned with the moral and psychological growth of its protagonist, and she is influenced by the events of her time. All the characters are rich, and the novel very readable. It must be! I’ve read it 10 times, and by the way, I named my son, Rett. (Close enough to Rhett, don’t you think?)

3.     The World According To Garp by John Irving

I adore John Irving and read everything he writes. Garp was the one that made me a life-long fan. It focuses on death, gender roles and sex, but Irving makes you laugh for some of the most inappropriate reasons.  It shouldn’t be funny, but it is. I always take away unforgettable phrases from his novels.  In Garp, it’s “In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases.”

4.     Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

More of a travelogue, the book is the depiction of a 1960 road trip around America that Steinbeck made with his French standard poodle, Charley, in a camper. I read it slowly so I could savor it. It holds such wonderful passages about his love of Montana, how he rediscovered San Francisco and how much the Middle West surprised him. It’s always been one of my treasures from a great writer.

5.     A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Just put Papa’s name on anything, and I’ll read it. To me, it’s the premier American war novel filled with love and loss.

6.     The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

To me, this is one of the most romantic stories I’ve ever read. I don’t care what critics say, I couldn’t put it down.

7.     Giant by Edna Ferber

I was so swept away by this epic novel that captures the essence of Texas over the life and times of cattleman Bick Benedict, his young society wife, and three generations of large land owners. It had it all for me – love, power, cattlemen and oil tycoons.

8.  A Dog Named Skip by Willie Morris.

I love it because it’s a classic story of a dog and a boy in small-town America.  I was transported back into the 1940s and followed a small dog bring a shy, lonely boy out of his shell. Anyone who has loved and suffered through the death of a beloved pet will understand. As far as dog stories go, I put Marley & Me and The Art of Racing in the Rain right there with it.

9.     Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I read everything that the Bronte Sisters wrote. This is my favorite. At its core is the enduring love between the heroine, Catherine Earnshaw, and her father’s adopted son, wild Heathcliff, and how their love eventually destroys their lives and those around them. It’s a very tragic love story but a great classic.

10.  Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

You’re going to say “What?!” on this one. But, at the time that I read it, it was the most terrifying thing I had ever read. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. King is the master at description, and like he says, “I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.” He’s responsible for my love of vampires and all things that go bump in the night.

So, I've shared my top 10 favorite books with you. Tell me yours!