Walking On Volume 2, Issue 9, September 2015 | Page 9

than repeating them. Then riding on down the trail
with confidence and know-how.

4) Once the jump is under you it’s
too late to look at it.

Horses sometimes have more sense than people.
They just keep moving forward. Learning from our
mistakes is vital but dwelling on them is fruitless.
What’s done is done. The attention span of a horse
is only 3 seconds. After that he’s ready for the next
thing. Likewise, after the botched audition, instead
of beating yourself up about what you could have
done better, it’s best to put it out of your mind. It’s
too late to go back and do it again anyway.

5) A good heart beats
a pretty head every time.

It takes more than just being a purebred to make
a great horse.Those of you who feel much freer and
more comfortable behind the mic than in front of
the camera can relate to this. As voice actors, our
best performances are those that reach out and
touch the listener. Who cares how pretty we may
look behind the mic? Microphones can’t see, they
can only feel.

6) A swish of the tail at regular
intervals keeps most pests away.

A simple natural action. In other words, watch
your back! Trust is commendable but naivete can be
detrimental. Brush aside the naysayers and focus on
moving forward. Rely on your own judgement but
look back once in a while to keep predators at bay.
And to see how far you’ve come.

7) Know the course
before you mount the horse.

The horse surely knows the way. If you are new
to voice acting (or any other skilled profession) do
your homework before getting in too deep with
equipment expenses, client services, marketing expenses and such. A young foal learns to trot before
he can canter.
There’s a wealth of resources available on the
World Wide Web, your public library or community
book store. Read up on your new profession.
Choose your sources wisely. Ask a working pro
which sources are the ones most valuable to him or
her, rather than asking too broad a question such as,
“How do I get into voice acting?”

8) Riding well is the best revenge.

Show off your riding skills. As I said earlier, keep
the naysayers at bay as well as other negative influences. Concentrate instead on being the best professional you can be. Revenge is sweet when you’ve
become accomplished... leaving others in the dust
who are lazy, misguided, unskilled or unscrupulous.

9) Never end an
exercise on a bad note.

To build confidence leave the session on a happy
note. The best way to do this is to ask the horse to
perform something he already knows how to do. He
leaves confidently, ready for the next session. End
your own recording session, phone conversation or
email message on a good happy note. Stay positive
and forward-thinking when dealing with clients
and with the industry as a whole.

10) Graze in the
same spot too long and you’ll
end up with a mouthful of dirt.

Horses always find the green grass.Gaining new
ground in any business is vital to its prosperity,
longevity and growth, especially a business such as
voice acting accompanied by so much high technology. But then again, what business today isn’t?
Keeping up with and understanding its evolving
phases will help keep your business in the spotlight.
On Friday, February 3, 2012, my beloved horse, Duke, passed
away. He was 26 years old... 78 in human years. One of the hardest things in life I’ve ever done was to let him go and allow him a
dignified death. Despite the years of care and love we gave him,
time and an injury took it’s toll on his aging legs and he could no
longer support the weight of his own body.
Duke is survived by Majik, our 16 year old chestnut, f ^[