Hundreds of years ago, horses and
sailing ships
were the most effective modes of transportation
for man and cargo for land and sea travel. Sailing
ships were the backbone of world trade. Appropriately,
just like horses, sailing has provided many sayings
that flavor our
language. For example, "by the way", "windfall"
and "the bitter end" are expressions that are the
contribution of sailors.
When a storm or accident at sea damaged a
boat's mast and rigging, sailors were forced to
improvise the repair with any material they had on
hand in order to get to home port. The term
jury-rigging was first used to describe the
creative
repair process. Lately, I've noticed that folks on terra
firma use jury-rigging methods on a regular basis,
even if the right repair is readily available.
Let me confess first, I've done my fair share of
jury-rigging for quick
problem solving and enjoy the creative challenge. Give
me locking pliers, duct tape and baling wire
and I will find a way to fix anything. The problem
with jury-rigging is that we often forget that it's only a
temporary solution.
When the jury-rigged ship got back to port, the
vessel's owners made a permanent repair. They
knew the foolishness of sending a ship back out to
sea with less than perfect sails and rigging. Failure to
make the correct repair could endanger the health and
safety of the crew and cause the loss of revenue from
the cargo.
Put this next sentence in the "I wish someone had
told me this long ago" column.
Successful professional horsemen are in
business because they have already tried all of the
jury-rigged shortcuts and know they don't
work.
All of us are interested in saving money and one of the
best ways to save money over the long ride is to make
permanent repairs.
Many professional horsemen and women live
jury-rigged personal and business lives with the
notion
that they are saving money. They are masters at
creating jury-rigged: stalls, gates, round pens
and indoor arenas.
Their computers, accounting systems, marketing
plans and horse related income streams are "rigged"
and lack reliability. Their personal lives have
jury-rigged: relationships, organization memberships
and
finances.
It's a daily affair of energy sucking tolerations that
saves the chronic jury-rigger neither time nor
money.
If you are living in a duct tape world, make a
commitment to make permanent repairs to your
jury-rigging. You'll feel more confident and in
control
with every permanent repair you make to tighten
up your "horsemanship".
