Okay people. Blog post time. And it is late. Again. Apologies. Okay, I'm over it.
Like everyone else, I am SO looking forward to Moscow and I
cannot wait to see all of my readers and not to mention all my other FFA peeps.
Don’t be afraid to come up to me and ask me questions or say hi. We might even
take a selfie or two that could possibly go up on the blog! Super exciting.
Anywhoo…
A couple of days ago, while home for just a few days between
trips, my dad and I decided to pull the horses out and go for a ride. Mind you,
since I have been gone and he has been travelling with his new job, my ponies
haven’t been out of the barn much. And to top it off, one of my boys is a
Thoroughbred/ Quarter Horse mix. With
his blood always boiling and high strung attitude of a barrel horse, he has
continued to get more and more barn sour. Being a horse that requires a lot of
constant riding and a rider who is experienced enough to keep him entertained,
the combination of not being rode and being rode by people who don’t know how
to control him, his attitude took a turn for the worst. With his head high and
nostrils flared, we began to trot around our usual loop. Soon enough he began
to crow hop, toss his head, stomp his back feet, and paw ferociously at the
ground with his front feet. Equipped with a thin leather strap, I brought my
arm back, connecting the strap to Jimmy’s rump, trying to correct his behavior.
He swerved, hopped, and snorted. Bringing my arm behind my hip, he began to
turn tight circles in one direction and then I would direct him to do circles
in the other direction. Soon he would give up his fight and stand. And we could
continue on. But it we wouldn’t have traveled much farther than a few lengths
when he would break out into another juvenile fit and we would repeat the
process over and over. It took almost 45 min of this repeating process for
Jimmy to figure out that I was his rider and he would behave how I expected him
to behave. After that, we rode peacefully and romantically watched the sunset
together.
Awe, how cute.
Now I didn’t just want to tell you some useless story from
my life that cannot possibly connect to all of y’all.
Pretty soon, upperclassman and older chapter officers, are
going to be encountering a new crop of Freshman FFA Members. Now I am not
saying that these newcomers are wild, flared nostriled, barn sour horses. But
how we handle situations are similar. No we aren’t going to be using a leather
strap or making them do tight circles to help them either learn to love FFA as
much as you or learn how to act while in the blue jacket.
On many occasions, you will come across new members that
want to just soak it all up and love it instantly. You will also see those that
have friends who tell them that it “isn’t cool to wear that corduroy jacket”.
You will also pass along kids who have a personality that loves to pester,
break the rules, or just have a bad attitude against everything. Each person is
their own person and will do as they like. But as an older chapter member, you
have to set an example and help them learn the ropes.
By you not complaining about Official Dress, they learn that
it 1) isn’t that bad to wear it 2) wearing it right is better than not 3) that
it is not okay to bash on wearing it. It is as simple as that. These kids are
looking up to you. You don’t have to sit and lecture and “freak out” on them
when they do something wrong. Help them, show them. I know that there are those members who will
give your grief and you feel like they do things just to make you mad and that
they don’t like you. I have felt this way often when I was in high school. It
wasn’t until I had gone back to my home chapter to do a workshop that those
kids who I thought hated me and did things out of spite, actually looked up to
me and what I had done for the chapter. They missed how I was obsessive about their
“tally-wackers” and straight ties and how I was always brisk and direct and
gave succinct marching orders.
For most who are reading this, this who shpiel will make
absolutely no sense. It isn’t until you have experienced being an officer,
older member, or just someone that people look up to, that this advice will
come in handy.
Now back to my Jimmy Dean. Today we rode again. He was calm
and willing to do as I asked. He was the horse that I know and love and the
night was pleasant as we bounced (aka Jimmy’s trot) down the road next to my
dad riding my Missouri Fox Trotter (who is gaited and my dad’s butt never left
the saddle while I looked like a Jack Rabbit bounding over sage brush). Because
of my steady hand the other day and my patience to teach him patience and all
the stuff he thought he had forgotten, there was a world of difference today.
If you are willing to take the time and have patience, you will create a great “crop”
of Freshman who will become a great new generation of FFA members.
See you in Moscow!
Peace, Love, and FFA!
McKenzie
P.S. I was serious about the selfies. I love selfies. And I
would love to post them on my blog. If you see me, come on up and introduce
yourself (if I don’t know you that is) and ask for a selfie. And if you don’t
know what I look like, I will probably be the one taking selfies of my own
face.
No comments:
Post a Comment