Catch Them Or Teach Them To Fly For Horses
I got an email at work one day with a religious passage about how if you're standing on the edge of the cliff to simply trust in God & take the plunge; God will either catch you or teach you to fly. This got me to thinking about horses in general. So much of the time we expect a horse to really trust us like we're some sort of deity; to just trust us even when they feel like they're standing on the edge off a cliff. Just step off horse, don't worry about it. But how may times has a horse done that very thing, stepped off the edge of a cliff & we've let them down the hard way? I'm ashamed to say probably more often than not. Grandpa used to say, "Don't cheat a horse that trusts you." I think this is exactly what the man meant.
At the time of this original writing I had three mares. But I'll focus on the mare I called Gunny. Oh a fine little mare she was, not too tall but stout as a bull. She was a regular little Ferrari with a lot more going on under the hood than even her fine good looks would indicate. For some horses if they become uncertain or afraid you see this in their posture, their expression and it's very obvious. For Gunny, she internalized her worries. Mostly they stayed in her mind & she would hold her breath. If you didn't feel it that's where trouble happened because if you didn't address that fear, it moved through the body affecting things as it went until it got to the feet and a full on freak out occurred. Such a subtle creature was my Gunny.
In this passage I see that this little mare, my Gunny, often stood on the edge of that cliff. In a prey animal, like the horse, they probably spend a lot of time hoping we don't shove them off the cliff to a bad and scary place. Every time we blow off a horse's concern or are too busy to take the time they desperately need for us to take them through that scary plunge off the edge of a cliff, we damage the bond, deteriorate the trust. Yet if we acknowledge the edge they stand on, we build on that bond by not only helping them but we catch them or better yet, we teach them to fly by helping them conquer that fear. These big beautiful creatures tremble with what must feel like a combination of hope and fear that we won't see, won't recognize what they need. They need us to realize just where they stand & what a tremendous amount of trust it takes in order to go off that cliff. It requires a level of trust.
I think of the day that little mare met up with a coil of black water hose in my mother's yard. To the horse this most likely looked like a big black snake or some equally awful thing. Her sister refused to cross it. Gunny stood, poised on the edge of that cliff. Did she jump & expect me to catch her or did she do as her sister & refuse without even trying. On this same ride we had another moment where I acknowledged her concerns. So when I put my hand on her withers and dug deep, took a very deep breath, breathed it out slow & calm and told the little mare, "it's okay". She very much stepped off the edge of the cliff in a moment of trust that I will never forget. In that moment, I didn't let the mare down. I saw her past the black hose-beast & on to what we wanted to do. And because sometimes you don't just teach them to fly, you grab leather & ride right down the throat of that fire breathing dragon, you do it together. Gunny was able to walk amongst the coils without so much as a flick of the ear of concern. On the trip back past the hose-beast, she didn't give it so much as a glance. In that moment my little Gunny mare could fly. Such a little thing in the eyes of the human. Such a huge step in the heart of a prey animal who avoids danger like the plague.
It is in these little moments the horse learns we can be trusted. That's when the magic happens. When a human and a horse can begin to trust one another. There is something to be said of a union that's forged in the fire that way. Each tiny step strengthens the idea that this human is different. From those tiny beginning steps the horse learns to trust that if you ask it of her, she can have confidence. Soon the horse no longer hesitates. So then the human has to be more careful to respect that responsibility. As Grandpa said, "Never cheat a horse that trusts you."
Every good horse deserves a good horseman who cares enough to catch them or teach them to fly. It just doesn't get any better than that!
At the time of this original writing I had three mares. But I'll focus on the mare I called Gunny. Oh a fine little mare she was, not too tall but stout as a bull. She was a regular little Ferrari with a lot more going on under the hood than even her fine good looks would indicate. For some horses if they become uncertain or afraid you see this in their posture, their expression and it's very obvious. For Gunny, she internalized her worries. Mostly they stayed in her mind & she would hold her breath. If you didn't feel it that's where trouble happened because if you didn't address that fear, it moved through the body affecting things as it went until it got to the feet and a full on freak out occurred. Such a subtle creature was my Gunny.
In this passage I see that this little mare, my Gunny, often stood on the edge of that cliff. In a prey animal, like the horse, they probably spend a lot of time hoping we don't shove them off the cliff to a bad and scary place. Every time we blow off a horse's concern or are too busy to take the time they desperately need for us to take them through that scary plunge off the edge of a cliff, we damage the bond, deteriorate the trust. Yet if we acknowledge the edge they stand on, we build on that bond by not only helping them but we catch them or better yet, we teach them to fly by helping them conquer that fear. These big beautiful creatures tremble with what must feel like a combination of hope and fear that we won't see, won't recognize what they need. They need us to realize just where they stand & what a tremendous amount of trust it takes in order to go off that cliff. It requires a level of trust.
I think of the day that little mare met up with a coil of black water hose in my mother's yard. To the horse this most likely looked like a big black snake or some equally awful thing. Her sister refused to cross it. Gunny stood, poised on the edge of that cliff. Did she jump & expect me to catch her or did she do as her sister & refuse without even trying. On this same ride we had another moment where I acknowledged her concerns. So when I put my hand on her withers and dug deep, took a very deep breath, breathed it out slow & calm and told the little mare, "it's okay". She very much stepped off the edge of the cliff in a moment of trust that I will never forget. In that moment, I didn't let the mare down. I saw her past the black hose-beast & on to what we wanted to do. And because sometimes you don't just teach them to fly, you grab leather & ride right down the throat of that fire breathing dragon, you do it together. Gunny was able to walk amongst the coils without so much as a flick of the ear of concern. On the trip back past the hose-beast, she didn't give it so much as a glance. In that moment my little Gunny mare could fly. Such a little thing in the eyes of the human. Such a huge step in the heart of a prey animal who avoids danger like the plague.
It is in these little moments the horse learns we can be trusted. That's when the magic happens. When a human and a horse can begin to trust one another. There is something to be said of a union that's forged in the fire that way. Each tiny step strengthens the idea that this human is different. From those tiny beginning steps the horse learns to trust that if you ask it of her, she can have confidence. Soon the horse no longer hesitates. So then the human has to be more careful to respect that responsibility. As Grandpa said, "Never cheat a horse that trusts you."
Every good horse deserves a good horseman who cares enough to catch them or teach them to fly. It just doesn't get any better than that!