We Don't Know What We Don't Know
Until a dressage arena in Spain shows you
I was one of those young girls who always dreamed of owning a horse - but whose family could never afford one.
In my 30s I scratched that itch - and in a big way! At one time (while running my consulting business), I cared for over 15 horses on my property from seasoned show horses to horses just starting under saddle to newborn foals.
I had to learn MANY lessons about leadership while handling, schooling and riding these horses. After all, horses are herd animals evolved to follow the “lead mare.” (More on this in future articles!) And I was quite expert at it what I was doing.
But, here’s the thing about expertise: Expertise creates blind spots.
The horses that I was breeding, riding and showing were Paso Fino horses. Paso Finos are smooth-gaited. No bounce. No jarring transitions.
I was accomplished by any Paso Fino standard, but completely unprepared for what most of the riding world considers basic: being able to ride at the trot or canter.
Do you see any parallels to your life/work experiences?
Here’s one I see. Many of the women I work with are genuinely accomplished with deep expertise in their field. And, yet, somehow still missing the business savvy that would elevate everything they’ve already built. Not because they’re not smart enough — they absolutely are — but because their path never required it. Until their advancement stalls or they are excluded from opportunities.
Epona Changed Everything
But riding Paso Finos didn’t fulfill my dream. From the age of 6, I wanted to ride dancing white stallions. And so, I took myself to the incredible Epona dressage school between Sevilla and Carmona in Andalusia, Spain. Yup, that’s me in the photo riding Naranjero - a beautiful Andalusian gelding.
Before I got on that horse, here’s the skill-set and mindset I had:
A decades-long dream to ride Andalusian horses.
Zero dressage training, ever.
A riding history built on smooth gaits — meaning trotting and cantering were effectively foreign to me
What I was heading into was an intensive 2 weeks of dressage lessons with LOTS of trotting and cantering) — with a restorative coastal stay between weeks to recover (and let's be honest, to convince myself to go back for week two).
Was it scary? YES
Was it a risk? YES
Was I the least experienced rider? YES
Was I absolutely awful? YES
Was I the oldest beginner - maybe ever? YES
Did I LOVE every single minute? ABSOLUTELY
So much so that I’ve been back every year since.
So What Does This Have to Do With Business Savvy?
More than I expected.
I didn’t walk into Epona as a beginner. I walked in as someone with decades of real horsemanship — breeding, schooling, handling animals — that demanded leadership and technical skills every single day. My experience was genuine. It just wasn’t dressage.
That distinction matters more than it sounds.
Business acumen: riding Paso Finos isn’t riding dressage.
Many of the women I work with are accomplished in exactly this way. They know their field deeply. They’ve led teams, managed complexity, delivered results. And so when someone suggests they need more business acumen, the response — understandably — is: I’m an expert in my field. I know my company. I’m respected. I’ve advanced in my career.
That’s not wrong. It’s just not the whole picture. Riding Paso Finos isn’t riding dressage.
Strategic acumen: vision is a starting point, not its entirety.
Strategic acumen is trickier, because women who are creative and visionary — and many of the women I work with are exactly that — often feel certain they already have it. And they’re not entirely wrong. The feel I had for horses, for reading an animal’s mood and energy and timing? My vision for and skill at achieving performance excellence in the Paso Fino show ring? That was real, and it helped me at Epona. But dressage is controlled by the letters along the outside of the arena (think external environment), the test requirements (consider financial targets) and the internal capabilities (consider your and your horse’s abilities). The vision of a beautiful performance alone won’t get you there.
Yes, vision is one component of strategy, but not its entirety. Opportunities quietly disappear when we believe otherwise.
Financial acumen: the gait nobody required.
This one might be the most honest parallel I can offer. I didn’t avoid the trot and canter out of fear. I rode in a world where riding those gaits wasn’t just unnecessary — it was actively avoided. In the Paso Fino show ring, they'll cost you everything. I didn’t know what I was missing because nothing in my experience told me to acquire it.
That is precisely the relationship many women have with financial acumen. Not ignorance. Not avoidance, exactly. Just a skill that seems optional — until it isn’t. Suddenly we’re scrambling to acquire it and it’s bouncy, fast, deeply unfamiliar, and successful people around you seem to have been doing it forever.
And Then There Was the Olympian
I started week one on Naranjero — patient, forgiving, the perfect beginner’s horse. By week two, I had lessons on a Prix St. Georges1-level mare with Rafael Soto - silver medal winner in dressage at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (both pictured at the top).
With only 9 dressage days under my belt, was I apprehensive - even embarrassed - to be riding with such an accomplished coach? Absolutely
Was I awful? Yes.
Did I care? Well — only a little.
Because here’s what happened on that mare: I rode two flying lead changes. One happened by accident. The other flying change I actually cued. And in that moment, something clicked. Neither the power of my dream nor any amount of reading could have produced one. It took skill development and the guidance of an expert to make it happen. And if I hadn’t taken the risk to go to Epona, I’d never have realized the dream.
You only get moments such as these by getting in the arena.
Your Invitation
When it comes to fulfilling our goals, the challenge isn’t always learning something new. We’re called to do that frequently. A greater challenge is admitting that we don’t know what we don’t know — and that some of what we think we know is actually something else wearing the same name.
That’s what I hope you take away from my story about two weeks at Epona. And it’s what Business Savvy asks of every woman willing to claim hers.
So I’ll ask you what I asked myself before I booked Epona:
What risk will you take to fulfill your dream of an ever more successful and rewarding career?
PS If you have 7 minutes, get inspired by Rafael Soto’s performance on Invasor. You’ll see flying changes starting at 4:35 and 6:07.
I’m Susan Colantuono, best known for my TED Talk, “The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get.”
I’ve devoted most of my working life to supporting the career advancement of women.
Now my work is exclusively focused on offering women tools for developing and demonstrating Business Savvy - the business, financial and strategic acumen we need to succeed and to close The Missing 33% of the career success equation for women.
That includes offering my groundbreaking course in a self-paced version (with coaching support) right here at Be Business Savvy. Check it out!
You will find additional useful and actionable content in my books and other online resources:
No Ceiling, No Walls ebook
No Ceiling, No Walls soft cover
Make the Most of Mentoring soft cover
Coaching Executive Women (occasional) newsletter
Lead ON!
Susan
¹ Prix St. Georges is the entry point to international-level dressage competition. The mare (pictured in the top photo) I rode had earned that designation. I had not.