Time in the Saddle

Once upon a time

I was packing my bag

Ready to travel to India for a film

I was ecstatic 

It was the end of my first year out of drama school and I felt a real sense of momentum building

My bag was open on the floor with a few of the essentials already in it

I was simply waiting for that final phone call to confirm the last minute details before finishing packing

I got the opposite kind of call 

My agent rang with a gentle, slow and apologetic tone

“It didn’t come together I’m afraid”

I was devastated

One year out into the industry meant I still got very wobbly when it came to rejections

Probably something to do with the fact that I use to spend an enormous amount of time focussing on what decision the producers would make rather than focussing on what I could control - understandably!

Anywho

I was sad

So I packed up my fly fishing gear and some spare clothes and headed to the mountains

Eight hours later I was in a hostel room alone

Apparently no-one wants to go to the ski fields when there isn’t snow?

I got dressed into my waders, put on all the gear that made me look like I knew what I was doing when I actually didn’t

And stood in the snowmelt-temperature river trying to catch a trout

One thing I love about getting back into nature

Is that it doesn’t take much time for me to be coaxed back into the present 

I can remember seeing some kind of floating rodent pop up about 10 feet away from me

I grew up in Africa with very different wildlife

So when I saw my first wild Platypus I really didn’t know what to make of it

No fish, but one Platypus, still a big win

I decided to call it a day and head back to my empty hostel to eat alone

On my way home

There was a sign outside an equestrian centre

“Buck Brannaman Horsemanship Clinic - $50 to watch)

Huh?

Obviously I turned into the drive way 

And poked my head into the big barn

The next thing I knew

I was sitting on a fence for the next 3 days straight

Watching the world’s leading horse whisperer work with horses

This is the man the author of “The Horse Whisperer” used as inspiration for his novel

And who’s documentary (Buck) won Sundance back in 2010

It was one of the most wonderful few days of my life

And certainly one of the greatest craft experiences I have ever had

Everything Buck was talking about

I thought remarkably related to acting

I felt like I was home

I knew that horses cost a lot of money

And required a tonne of land, time, and effort

But I remember feeling like I had found one of the most meaningful things in my life

Still

To this day

I know

Deep down

Getting good at riding horses 

Is one of the most worthwhile things I could do with my time on this earth

(Stick with me here)

A year later

I was cast in my first series

I got the role of the antagonist for the first season of a new network show

Set in the 50’s

And guess what!?

This meant horses!

As each episode was sent to me in the mail

I would snatch it out of the mailman’s poor hands

Dive into bed 

And flick through to find when I would be required to showoff some horse skills

That page never came

Turns out I was the only character in the show to NOT ride a horse

I had a beat up old pickup truck instead (ugh… how many times I stalled that thing during takes) 

I was frustrated

But not phased

I looked up who the horse wrangler was

The extraordinary Graham Ware Jr. 

Four generations of horse wrangling for film & TV

The very man who worked with Viggo on Lord of The Rings

Yes!

I found his number and called him up

Everyone got horse riding lessons with him except me

But I was happy to fork out for my own private lessons

I just wanted to get better at this beautiful craft

Graham listened patiently and invited me to his farm

Off I went

Brand new RM’s ready to get muddy

The lessons began

I had ridden horses every Wednesday afternoon growing up as a kid thanks to my Mother’s patience & generosity

But a decade later… 

I had some tuning up to do

I was hungry & determined

Everything Graham mentioned

I soaked it up

More more more

Every instruction I would ask why and dissect it as deeply as I could

Until it felt simple enough in my mind that I could repeat it alone

But then something happened

After about the third session 

Graham went quiet 

I spent about half an hour riding in circle before I couldn’t hold back anymore and I burst out loud

“Anything I can do? Anything I can work on”

Again, I was desperate to improve at this meaningful craft I was extremely passionate about

Graham smiled

Took a breath 

And said

“Mate, at this point, there’s nothing else to talk about

You just need time in the saddle”

I sighed

I knew exactly what he meant

All my passion, drive, determination, excitement… I had wobbled off the path

I was more interested in feeling like I was getting better

Than actually doing the work required to get better

What’s my point?

There comes a time 

When thinking and feeling can slip over into replacing actions which result in actual progression

Sometimes

The most important thing I can do

Is just get some time in the saddle 

No more talking

No more thinking

Just ride

Get those reps in which can’t be replaced by anything else

Hope this helps

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