Where is your shoulder!!?

I was in awe this week as I worked with a beautiful Palomino Mare in the round pen, She's an excellent beauty, but a little lethargic on reacting to her cues, so we were working on getting her to move with less convincing needed.

As she ran in the pen she often decided to slow or walk whenever she wanted. I remembered that my energy needed to be focused on her shoulder. Some say the shoulder is the heart of the horse. Every time I focused in that area she moved forward knowing I meant business, but as soon as I got a centimeter too forward on her neck or too far back towards her rear... she would wander in her attention or slow down.

Now it is possible that she just sensed my attention wandering... but I am often amazed at the influence we have on a horse when we connect with their shoulder. I swear I almost literally felt connected to her when my focus was in just the right place.

So, when God is working with you, stretching you and growing you. Where is your shoulder? WHAT is your shoulder...maybe that's a better question.

Where is the area He focuses that completely gets your attention and draws you in, to move you to keep your eye on Him? Think about it. I would love to hear what you all come up with.

Patience Please.

How would it be if we had a God with little to no patience?

Think of the silly things we do... think... if you were God... how many times would you like to smack a few people (or yourself) alongside of the head to wake them up (OK... well that sounds harsh... but lets just be honest). Really, just ponder for a moment the amount of patience God must have with each of us.

For getting ahead of Him,

for not moving when He says to move,

for not paying attention to Him,

for being lazy or stubborn when He cues us to go in another direction,

for being scared and not trusting that He has everything under control.

You see, a good trainer needs the same qualities as God, at least they need to aspire to have them. And patience is one of the best qualities a trainer can have. In order to get something through to a horse, it often takes time. Sadly, many trainers just "don't have the time" or are not willing to find it. And that's when things get physical. That's when things get frustrating and could look ugly on either end. The trainer can hurt the horse out of frustration or the horse can hurt the trainer out of anger, frustration, or often just plain ol' confusion.

Horses are a lot like people... they can do all the same frustrating things as listed above... if we treat them as God treats us we're gonna get a lot farther with them. God is the best model a trainer can ever have. God does discipline us to an extent... and we should also do so with our horses. But with time and repetition and effectiveness. Most times the impatience we have with a horse comes more from inside of US than it does from the horse. Also we are so culturally driven to make progress, and as we well know... that's not as much the case with the horse. We need to work on their time frame when possible. God certainly does that for us, why should we not reflect that in return and not only with horses, but with the people we love!

Were You Ever Forced

Have you ever been forced to do something. Didn't you lose respect for the person that took your free will away?

Today... I watched my friend "chase" a horse all around a big pasture in order to get it out of the pasture to be worked. Now... she could have gotten a bucket of grain... and bribed it, she could have scared it into the corner... but she didn't. She instead kept it's feet moving until IT decided to join up. The trainer simply made the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy. Eventually the horse got it. The trainer had immense patience. But in the long run, it's better than the horse only doing things out of fear or rewards.

So I came home and ended up having to do the same thing with Blaze. We haven't worked together much this summer... and he was hesitant to give up his lazy freedom. Eventually he got the point too... and just decided it was easier to follow me than to have me constantly making his feet move.

So I came inside, took a shower and had God time. I read a little in Mark and then God put Philemon in my mind. I initially thought "ah.... nah... I don't need to read that... I basically know what it says". But God said... read it anyway...

And what stuck out?

"But I didn't want to do anything without your consent. I wanted you to help because you were willing, not because you were forced." Philemon 14

I believe most the time that's how God deals with us too. He doesn't say "If you go on this Mission trip I will give you a beautiful convertible when you come back!! Come on... just go and I will even give you a new house!!!!" He doesn't bribe. Nor does he say... "If you don't give that widow money I'm gonna smack you into next year!!!!!!!!!!" He doesn't get us to move with fear. There is somewhere in between where He works.... if anything... He makes the wrong thing harder and the right thing easier.

So if you are wondering where God is in your life... maybe you need to be willing to join up with Him. Maybe He has been keeping your feet moving. But ultimately, it needs to be your choice.

A fearful horse is a wreck, as is a spoiled horse. But a willing horse is a beauty.

I Want Her To Look At Me

So today I again had the privilege of watching my dear trainer friend work with a horse. This horse can be a sweetheart some days, and totally off on other days. She is very loved, and does a good job loving back... in her eyes you can see that she wants to do right, she's just trying to figure it all out. As the trainer worked with her today I noticed at one point she kept wiggling the lead rope to bring the horses attention back towards her and she said...


"I want her to look at me"



When a horse is working for you... they should always have at least one eye on you... they should not drift and watch all the other action... if they do that they can miss your cues. Sometimes they want to watch what is happening around them... other times... it's like they are just lost within themselves.



So tonight as I was spending some time with the Man Upstairs... He kept prompting me to read on in the Bible even though I was getting tired... He said He had something to show me about myself. He lead me to the greatest commandments of all... to LOVE Him and my neighbors with all my heart.



I asked Him, "God... why do I struggle with that" He said because I am inward focused.



So I asked Him to please... keep wiggling my lead rope. He said He would.

You've Got My Attention... What's Next!?

A horse should know you have your personal space, never crowding you unless you ask him too, he should respect you as the number one horse in his herd and watch your every cue.

Who is the number one horse in your herd? Do you watch His every cue? Do you truly respect Him?

Some horses have a very hard time with ever giving in to that concept, so do some people, myself included at times. Although in my mind God is the lead of my life, my heart and actions show differently.

Sometimes a horse is better on one side vs the other at giving you space or letting you work with it, or lead it. It needs to be comfortable with you doing the same things on each side. We call that a balanced horse.

Sometimes we are better at letting God work in certain areas of our life, but not willing to let Him completely into other areas. When we are willing... we are balanced people.

When working with a horse he should never stop in your presence without facing you... if he stops and does not look... perhaps showing you his rear end... he is most likely not seeing you as his lead yet, rather he sees himself as one notch above you on the totem pole.... not good.

When God works with us and we are working with Him or we are done doing a certain aspect of ministry... we also should not give Him our rear ends, but instead we should turn and face Him each time as if to say... you've got my attention... what's next!!!?

Is My Head Set?

Another lesson I learned yesterday is what it means to have a horses head "set". I love how every lesson we learn with horses we can also apply to ourselves! Thank you to my dear trainer friend who is willing to pour into so many people the knowledge that God has blessed her with!!

So in order for a horse to have it's head set... in a nutshell... as it's moving, it is holding it's head down vertical/perpendicular to the ground. I wish I had a picture here to show you better what this means... but basically you don't want a horse moving with it's head in the clouds. I always thought that the horses who moved with their heads set were depressed... or oppressed... little did I know that they are usually very strong and willing. When a horse drops it's head while it's moving it helps round out it's neck and back, which eventually strengthens it's muscles and allows it to carry a rider with more strength and ease. It's not really the easy option, for the horse to set it's head (if I understand right) but it has long term benefits for many reasons!

Horses and people who run around with their heads in the clouds will see frustration in their lives... although it may seem necessary and easy at the time, they will pay for it eventually.

When we set our heads, we realize that we know there is more to life... people around us may look at us and think we are oppressed, we might not seem to enjoy quick gratifications like the world does, but we are not living for monetary pleasure... we are working to better ourselves. We are strengthening ourselves to have ease later on. We are wise, strong, understanding and willing.

You might have to set your head in the area of your diet, relationships, finances or many other areas. I know I need to and I will be asking myself a lot lately... if my head is in the clouds or not.

Jesus, Flag Me While Moving

So it's been FOREVER but I really miss blogging my horse experiences!! So here I go again!!!!!

I am blessed to have the acquaintance of a wonderful trainer who, along with her lovely granddaughter, have committed to help out some fellow horses. I feel like I learned SO much from her today that if I digested it all here, you would be reading far into next month, so I'll speak about one area that God touched me the most. Flagging.

I've seen this done before... I've done it to Blaze before, but there is a dangerous aspect of it that I'm glad I did not figure out on my own or by experiment.

Flagging a horse while moving.

Flagging a horse can be done a few different ways but basically involves a plastic bag tied to the end of a stick and this gets rubbed all around a horses body to desensitize them to things that frighten them. Often times the horse will react by stepping in the opposite direction but it's important to apply pressure while doing this so the horse does not think that backing away is the right thing to do. You see... if you stop just because they backed away, they will think that is the way out of the problem... to back away each time. Instead, they need to learn to deal with the problem, and realize staying calm will get the best results. That's why God sometimes keeps the pressure on us... He shows He's not wishy washy.

So today the trainer says that the real test is if the horse can be asked to move and be flagged while moving... I might also add... she made a point to say that this is not something an amature should just try to do. And I soon saw why. Please don't try this at home! =)

This somewhat trustworthy horse struck out and kicked at the trainer in fear. Thankfully the trainer knew exactly where to position herself (as does God) as not to get injured. I have never seen a stable horse act so afraid and be so aggressive due to fear or frustration until today.

So I asked God

Lord, I know you flag us out... you apply pressure to us at times to help us see that we are ok... that we are stronger than we think, and that we can trust You if we are just still in Your presence and wait it out. But what does it mean to flag US while WE are moving... what does that look like in a human?

OH DID THE ANSWER COME!!!!!!

So when we move forward as the horse does... it's usually when we are more confident in our Christian walk... God directs... and we go. We feel a connection to Him... more confident in our calling.... secure... maybe people are even benefiting from our ministry. Now, we may have taken a step out of our comfort zone to be in ministry... but we are creating a new one around us, whether we know it or not. SO... along comes the flag again... and OH HOW WE KICK. No one wants to be flagged when they're moving. We've found our new place with God... following His direction...maybe even becoming a little too confident in our ministry and along comes the flag and we need to humble ourselves and yield again. It's so hard to yield when you thought you knew where you were going... but God often likes to remind us that it is with Him that we get to those places and it's only through Him we will succeed. SO the flagging comes in to keep us in check. Those who yield, have a better ministry for it... those who don't, weather they know it or not, become hay burners. He who has ears to hear....