Relationship and Muddy Horses

It’s a sunny Texas morning in January – clear, brilliant and a touch on the chilly side for the moment. My horses are shaggy; one is brown rather than gray, and one of the others could have been the inspiration for Charles Schultz’s Snoopy character, Pig Pen. In my little herd the geldings are just like dirty little boys while my mares tend to have far better self-grooming habits.

My muddy gray, Bo, is beginning to shed. Yesterday when I curried him, both mud dust and hair coated the breezeway and my clothes. If you ever wondered about how wild horses clean up without the luxury of a wash rack, I can only imagine the answer must be a combination of rain and shedding. There are spas for people that charge exorbitant fees to coat clients in mud, so maybe horses know something we don’t. It’s a thought…

In the course of my work as a writer coming off a 20-plus year career as an equine professional, I answer lots of questions from readers about training and relationship with their horses. My goal is to help people build amazing relationships with their horses, with God, and with one other. The foundations of leadership and relationship are the same.

The basis for all great relationships is faith and focus. As prey animals, horses have a natural instinct to act on fear, bolting from every imagined danger. Our job is to replace our horse’s natural fear with faith in our worthy leadership. The same is true when talking about parents and children.

Do you worry about the road ahead? When challenges appear on the horizon do you begin to fret and stress over what could be? Such fear is the result of a lack of faith.

Think about your horse who loads calmly into the trailer just because you ask him or her to “Load up.” Many horses don’t load up confidently, but instead fight, pull back, or simply refuse. What’s the difference?

The difference is faith. Horses load up because they have faith that you aren’t taking them anywhere bad.

They know that though the trailer door closes, you will be there to open it again. They are not concerned about the destination. That’s a big thing, and they trust you to handle the big things.

Family life is all about faith and focus. When we extend our family to include horses and pets in general, we commit to becoming worthy leaders. And leadership is all about making promises and keeping them.

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About the writer: Lynn Baber is a National and World champion breeder and trainer, and author of  “Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace”. Visit LynnBaber.net for more information.

Tags: faith, focus, groom, leadership, relationship

Category: Lifestyle, Training