Not Too Late Smart

I was at the horse barn this week, taking a mighty steed to his stall after a lesson, and one of the other volunteers mentioned that she was looking for a paying horse barn job. She is mid-twenties, and new to the equine scene, but a quick and enthusiastic learner who has a natural aptitude for working with horses. She was convinced that lack of experience was going to doom her ambitions. “Don’t sell yourself short. Experience can be a real liability. For some people, experience can result in close-mindedness, an unwillingness to learn, and a tendency to cling to out-of-date practices. Give me somebody willing to work hard and learn over somebody who knew it all ten years ago. Besides, you truly love horses, and that’s worth any number of years simply making a living off them.” She just stared at me, and then started to tear up. She’s college-educated but going through that, “Maybe my ladder has been leaning against the wrong building this whole time,” questioning which seems to…