by Therese Johansson

I'm standing in the shower and this sentence pops into my head and I feel like I need to create a new column.

There are three specific dreams in my life that I think about when it comes to my courage to light the fire that has gone out regarding my dreams in life. The first is when I have the courage to choose to believe it genuine love, when I met my beloved husband Daniel, despite disastrous wrong choices earlier in life. The second is when Covid more or less extinguishes my dream of NLC in 2020 and that we have now reworked the concept and are aiming for progress again. The third and the most elementary right now, is my dream to train at some lower level in jumping/dressage within the equestrian sport. Preferably with really good coaches and if I raise my dream a little more, it would be great to start in one of these branches. However, our horse Mi Corazón (Mico) has a completely different request from life! 

When the fire went out…

I'm sitting in the KBT chair, the year is probably 2010 and I see a picture in my mind when I'm sitting on a horse and riding towards the forest on a dirt road. I'm trying to recover from exhaustion and have been asked what makes me happy. With that horse image, I realize that my international career has swallowed up everything that is important to me and that I need to find my way back to what means something in my life.

There began the journey with Mico, he came to me in 2011, when he was two months old and he put his little head against my chest and I felt that he will be mine. He got big and I and a friend show-showed him, with gusto, on something called a 3-year test, in the branch jumping. My friend called and asked if I wanted to hear an offer for the Mico that came from Germany. They had seen a picture on her social media of him jumping over the hurdle supports with perfect leg technique. I wasn't ready to let him go, I wanted to follow him a little further on his journey…

There the story time ended, from where he was supposed to begin school so it's just been a no-brainer and we are now world champions in rehab training. We have had the privilege of training for extremely talented coaches who are trained on the higher scale, in both branches, which I find incredibly inspiring and fun. Unfortunately, Mico doesn't find it as inspiring and he shows it through his incredible ability to kickbox. He is good at it, not a leg is in the hill and many times I wonder if I will be allowed to chew sand. Unfortunately for Mico, I have an incredible ability to react and we dance well together in the kickboxing matches, however, I had enough about 1.5 years ago and I put aside my dream that he and I would train and possibly compete together.

How do you get the courage to rekindle the fire that has gone out?

There needs to be a little glow left in the dream and after the retreat it is good to get help from someone who believes in the little glow that remains. Mico is a talent with nice gaits, he is charming and has a beautiful body but he probably has a temper problem when it comes to training riding. Otherwise, he is incredibly kind and a really nice friend. In recent years, he has mostly run on Halmstad's beautiful beaches in free form and he has been practicing something called slow training and got to practice leadership in something called the coral which is known in the branch western (WE).

One thing led to another and we met our new trainer as we opted to invest in yet another new saddle to see if our friend was okay with getting back into the training arena. Mico fell in love with her already at the first meeting and I thought, should I have the courage to ask if she wants to try to train us, he is a known hopeless case, what if she doesn't want to take on a world champion in kickboxing. The coach said yes after a period of thinking and the first training went well. All his legs were still on the hill! In training no. 2 our dear friend started to show off his ability to lift his butt and yesterday in training no. 3 it was more of a rodeo show than a jumping training. When our trainer left the arena yesterday, after we had together brought Mico's hooves down the hill and he showed off his fine talent by running and jumping beautifully, she said – You are brave, Therése!

Important to take responsibility for your part in the team but...

Mico is examined by the best vets in the country, he has a great team that regularly takes care of his body (he was checked last week), he has the best equipment and I, as a rider, take an incredible responsibility to be in good balance when I sit on him.

It is important to listen to what your training partner (Mico) says, but when everyone has given the go-ahead that everything is green and that the trainer says that there is nothing wrong with my riding - then there is rudeness that remains. Then you get to what we talk about in Humanship & Leadership - "tough love". With "fair" consequences, one's companion gets to choose beautifully - should it join the journey or should it walk another path that suits it better. It is reminiscent of company development, where the company has a vision that the workforce must have the desire to be part of refining. They must be given all the conditions to be part of the vision, but sometimes it is one or the other who needs a loving consequence and thereby be able to choose whether they want to join the journey or whether they choose to walk a different path.

 - Remember! No one has the right to put out the dreamer's fire, whether you are an entrepreneur, partner, family member, friend or trainer.

Have the courage to set fire to dreams that have gone out!

Nordic Leadership Center”Humanship & Leadership”, Therese Johansson