The Best Trainer Ever

The very best thing you can teach your horse is to look to you for leadership at all times. By diligent ground work and intentional time in the saddle, you can actually get the partnership between you and your horse to the point where the horse will look to you for leadership and follow your guidance even while at liberty (no halter/rope connection). And, even more importantly, she will learn look to you for leadership when she is scared or uncertain, instead of reacting with bucking, bolting, jumping or rearing – all of which put you in the dangerous position of potential injury.

To get to this point, you, the person, the trainer, must take on this responsibility of training. You must initiate the process and keep it going. Your horse will never take the initiative to train herself to bond with you in partnership. The horse cannot overcome his fears of mailboxes, clanging gates or rabbits by himself. Your horse will never think, “Ok, I'm going to work on training myself to be less spooked by garbage cans today.”

But you as trainer can set goals and follow simple planning to free your horse from the fear of things that will not hurt her. You decided, “Today we're going to work on getting Belle less afraid of garbage cans.” So, you lead her up to a large garbage can. You open the lid. You close the lid. Then you lead her away calmly. You lead her back to it again. Let her smell it. Open it, bang the lid closed. By repeating this lesson several times, she quickly gets to the point where she is not bothered by garbage cans, their sounds or their smells.

As I have come to understand this responsibility, privilege and joy of horse ownership, I have realized such a simple Gospel lesson.

First, I too have serious fears. There are things in life that scare me, that cause me to shy away from doing what would be best for myself, family or friends. There are times when I can go through a whole day of work with very few thoughts of God. There have been intense moments in my life where my first thoughts were not directed to God - I did not look to Him for leadership in spooky moments. In those moments I have jumped aside, bolted ahead, bucked and kicked – all from taking the council of my fears.

Those all represent moments in my life where I was not living up to my full potential. I was having irrational fear or reactions that depressed my choice to perform like I really could. I was held captive by a very real enslavement – but an bondage that was unnecessary.

But Father approaches me with the same love and hope for my growth as I approach my horse. He's not angry that I spook, or upset that I shy away from things. He can imagine my life without those irrational captivities just like I can imagine riding my horse on a trail ride without getting thrown off when she “just has to spook” at a rabbit. Father sees the potential we have for living a life of courage, healthy purpose and determination. He sees the vastness of our possibilities if we could live a life free from the fear of other people, the fear of poverty, or death, or criticism.

And notice this awesome Gospel reality: In the very same way as a trainer with a horse, it is Father who must take the responsibility of training these limitations out of us. We can't do it ourselves any more than a horse can. God is the one who must apply pressure on us. He must take us back to the things that frighten us to prove to our claustrophobic, panic-aholic minds that we really are going to be alright when we look to Him for leadership. Father is the one who sets the goals for our training. He designs it, plans it, executes it. And we come out the others side more gloriously free in His leadership and love than when He started. We live life to our potential, able to experience the joy of crossing water, have peace when plastic bags blow by, and laugh when a rabbit jumps out of the grass a few feet away.

Wow, I'm so blessed to have such a trainer!

I think I'm going to go introduce Belle to my chainsaw...