What makes an expert?

Apparently, I'm an expert.

I don't particularly feel like an expert however I'm not entirely sure how an expert feels.

My life often lands me flat on my ass covered from head to toe in mud, battered, bruised with a huge smile on my face, crying my eyes out or cursing... I didn't really think experts did that kind of thing.

Until recently I imagined experts to be people who wrote the books and taught the classes. They were the ones who knew it all, the ones with the answers. Me? I only have questions. Most of which surround why I'm covered in mud, flat on my ass, smiling (or crying), bruised and battered and of course, my sanity is always up for debate. Recently, however, I was asked to lecture at the University of Guelph Kemptville Campus, the Equine program. A program that I graduated from a few years ago. It would seem the student has become the teacher and I am left to discover and present my expertise.

So here I am preparing for a lecture on equine facility management and I don't feel as though I am qualified to teach students how to manage anything - unless it's how to end up flat on their asses covered in mud. For this I am expertly trained. Most of the time I find myself fondly remembering doing the bidding of others - being managed. Half the work and a quarter of the responsibility. What kind speech is that?

I'm left with my experiences of the process - designing and building my own facility and attempting to execute my business plan. Through this I've learned one thing loud and clear: the books, the teachers, the 'experts', don't tell you the truth and they definitely do not teach you what you need to get through it. They lie. They make it sound as though business people have it all together, like things happen in an ordered linear fashion, like doors don't blow in, like coyotes don't exist, like a balance actually does and like they would never end up on their asses in the mud. Ha!

So here's my truth and the basis of my lecture, what I've learned.

Your education, degrees, certificates or otherwise don't amount to anything when your horses escape, head down your driveway and you're on your farm alone. No book will teach you about these situations and no book will teach you how to pick yourself up out of the mud, abandon the lost rubber boot that got you there in the first place, shake off the the ew factor and walk confidently back to your office knowing full well the boot retrieval mission may find you in exactly the same position the next day.

I don't work with kids and horses because I like mud - I do it to find answers to my questions and because everyday I have to deal with the mud is a day working with kids and horses is possible. I love my work and I believe in it even when it sucks. And I promise you there will be days when it will suck and I can promise you if this is something you love it will still be worth it.

You'd just better love it a lot!