Lesley Grant-Law; Bulletproof Bitch of Eventing … or just like you and me?

Get ready to meet and love my friend Lesley Grant-Law. You will resonate with Lesley if you have ever looked at someone else's life and wondered how the hell they did it??? Lesley will tell you!

Lesley's superpower is her honesty and ability to be gritty and real. She just LOOKS like a fairy tale princess, and we often assume that anyone who lives a life with horses is living a fairy tale.

That is partly true.

There IS a dreamlike quality to ANY life we create around horses, especially when we strive to do it to the highest level possible … but Lesley will tell you what it takes if you were NOT born a Rockefeller, OR with boat loads of ‘talent’.

I met Lesley when she was sixteen years old. We called her 'Flip' for the move she used, to toss long locks out of perpetually mischievous eyes. Lesley was always brighter than hell, in more ways than one.

First, she was exceptionally well-educated and is smart enough to be dangerous. Second, she was smart enough to know what she wanted and to go after it, even though it was not ‘the done thing’ in her family.

I feel like one day at a riding lesson or a competition, Lesley just looked around and thought to herself, "You mean, people get to spend their lives living outside with horses all day, every day? People can even invest a lifetime into becoming one of the world’s best at this? Sign. Me. Up! I am IN!” Lesley was always up, for pretty much anything.

Thankfully, she was also smart enough to know that if it didn't come easy, she could work hard and learn it by, earning it. Which is a good thing for Lesley ... because Lesley SUCKED!

AND, because she also wasn’t made of money.

Seriously, it is not out of line for me to say it - Lesley, was NOT born a gifted rider. It is just a fact that many of us witnessed at some point.

In fact, THAT is what I was banking on eons ago, when I asked her to do a ‘catch ride’ on an Intermediate horse I wanted to sell into the Young Riders market. Lesley was just becoming a decent rider and was gutsier than hell. She was at that sweet spot, where her bourgeoning ability to ride allowed her to do a good job with my horse and give him a good ride … but she was still widely remembered as a fairly terrible rider.

This horse of mine came from my friend and mentor Robin Hahn’s place in Lumby BC, as a barely stoppable train that would jump ANYTHING you pointed him at, generally with as much height and enthusiasm as he could get away with! Being previously known as a rogue and aptly named 'Topsy-Turvy' made it hard to think of this now well-trained, rideable horse as anything but a pro's ride. I mean, we did go down in THREE water jumps in ONE season, from Turvy’s 'overenthusiastic' leaps, despite what I thought of as some very clear warning signals on the way in!

So, no surprise that there wasn’t a lineup of buyers.

But I am here to tell you that I put Lesley Grant on him for one Intermediate level catch ride of her life - and he was SOLD, thank you very much! (Seriously, thank you, Lesley!)

I probably should have given her a commission, but instead I received a single-spaced seven-page foolscap handwritten letter from her, sooooooooo full of gratitude for the privilege of riding this horse in competition, that I still have it to this day! Here is some of it, enlarge to read - it's GORGEOUS!

She's THAT kind’a wonderful!

And you know what? That gutsy kid we all knew, learned how to ride! It has been thirty years since then, but it feels like overnight, she just grew right-the-fuck up, and the next thing I know ... I am visiting her and watching her pull of feats of magic with an international business and athletic career, swapping positions seamlessly as a coach, employer, student, mentor, mother, and friend.

Since those Topsy Turvy days of the ‘90s, Lesley has been short or long listed for the Canadian team 8 times, a reserve for the Pan Ams twice, and would have represented Canada in Beijing, were it not for a heartbreaking last-minute lameness with her horse Timber Spirit.

She is married to British riding phenom Leslie Law, and together they run their successful business Law Eventing, while at the same time raising their son Liam and running off to soccer practices.

Recently, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks with them at their farm in Ocala Florida and witness what it takes to pull off what LOOKS like magic … but in reality, is something quite different … and perhaps even attainable for the rest of us ‘Muggles’. Together we’ll look at:

~ How Lesley deals with self-doubt

~ How she made it to the top without being born with a silver spoon

~ How her superpower has more to do with being like a cockroach than being talented

~ How tenacity can turn into ‘feel’ and make magic with horses

~ How ANYTHING is possible!

Join our conversation Friday May 13th at:

http://aleguppodcast.ca/

Take a chance,

Paige

xoxo

Lesley Grant-Law; Bulletproof Bitch of Eventing … or just like you and me?

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Paige Lockton-Wilde

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