I’ve just watched some lovely footage a friend sent me of a guy called Jean-Francois Pignon who is playing with his horses out on the beach and I just gotta’ share it with you.
Why do I like it? Because they – horses and person both are having such fun. They are doing some spectacular stuff – but it is the sense of fun that I am Just Saying YES! to.
It is with heartfelt gratitude to the over 41,000 people out there who, under the pressure of just a few weeks, identified what they don’t want to see in dressage, that we dedicate and announce Just Say YES! – which we guarantee will excite and inspire you.
Just Say YES! is designed to make all of us think about what is most beautiful between a horse and a person. It is about identifying what is most beautiful to each of us personally and why that is so. It is about inspiring ourselves and each other to greater heights of excellence in whatever we do with our horses.
I am proud to collaborate with the magazine, Horses For Life, and with the new Just Say YES! forum.
We are focussing on visual images for that inspiration – video and photographs that demonstrate to you, that speak to you about all the wonderful and beautiful things that dressage and other areas of horsemanship can be – images that inspire you whenever you look at them – and that you think will inspire others. Images that make you shout “YES!” with excitement, “YES! That’s what I want to see!”
An essential part of that inspiration is your comments about the images that you send in – your comments about what there is about this image that Just Says YES! to you about the beauty and the poetry that a horse and human can be together.
41,000 people signed the petition against Rollkur that went to the FEI last week. 41,000 people decided what they DIDN’T want to see. Imagine the power for change when 41,000 plus people focus on what they DO want to see.
Wow, what a thought…
Thus, Just Say YES! Is born here today.
We are looking forward with excitement to this campaign rolling across the world, emphasising all that is positive out there in the horse world and bringing about even more of the excitement and beauty that being with horses can inspire.
For example I, Jenny Pearce say “YES!” to real collection, “YES!” to strong, rhythmic, powerful, dancing movement and an elevated back through all the paces. I say “YES!” to an obvious harmonious relationship, “YES!” to a happy horse and ”YES!” to a happy rider. I say “YES!” to a conscious, joyful connection between horse and person that is reflected in the beauty of what I see.
I say ”YES!” to a rider who works with their horse at home and in public, with kindness and consideration. I say “YES!” to a horse whose mental, emotional and physical well-being is important to their human and whose work reflects that and enhances that. I say “YES!” to all these things on the ground and in the saddle, bareback, bridle-less, bitted, un-bitted, however and wherever I see them.
You will no doubt want to say “YES!” to something differently to me and differently to the other publishers and horse people who are collaborating on this campaign – in fact I’ll be surprised if you don’t. Just Say YES! is designed to celebrate those differences.
But most of all, Just Say YES! is about you – so what do YOU want to say “YES!” to?
Already there are two places that you can send in your video footage or photos of those things that demonstrate what you want to say “YES!” to.
Horses For Life has set up a section on their facebook page for you to put up the images that Just Say YES! to you. Click here for that facebook page.
Whichever way that you join in, the images will be either a photo or video footage of a horse and person doing some beautiful piece of horse work that you admire. It could be at the elite level of horsemanship. It could be a little kid doing something beautiful with their pony. It may be of yourself and your own horse. Please don’t forget to say who it is (horse and person) and keep the contact details for them if you have that information, because we may want to ask permission to use these images for an exciting new project that is on the drawing board.
And most importantly, don’t forget to write what it is about this image that inspires you – and WHY you think this is a truly beautiful piece of work.
Horses For Life is going to run a competition for the image that best fits what they Say YES! to, with regular prizes of a years subscription to Horses For Life, amongst other things.
Here on this website, I too am excited to run discussion and competitions and focus on the images that best speak to me about what I want to Just Say YES! to – more about that later!
It is our wish and desire, that Just Say YES! rolls out all over the world, with joyful positivity – emphasising the vast amount of what is already wonderful and beautiful and positive out there in the horse world and escalating it to engage even more people to new heights of beautiful horsemanship.
So be encouraged to take this Just Say YES! idea and run with it yourself. Set up your own websites, your own discussion groups, your own blogs, your own facebook pages – talk about it, laugh about it, be inspired about it, inspire others about it.
Keep it positive. Keep it beautiful. Keep it inspiring.
And do all that … for the horse and for you.
by Jenny Pearce, published in Horses For Life
