Childish
As I watched my coming two year old (human not horse) fumble with some legos today, pushing them at each other randomly, wondering why they wouldn’t stick together, I laughed a little, lovingly of course, at his naivety. He thought shoving them at each other should be enough to do the job. Silly boy. I wondered at how children think and how much they have to learn in life. It is such a joy to get to be the trainer who brings them along into adulthood.
Then it struck me how, even though we think as adults that we know everything, we are actually still fumbling at life the same as a small child. We simply lack their grace and desire to continue learning.
It often seems that every new thing I learn about training horses is such a great revelation and I can’t figure out how I ever got by without that latest piece of knowledge. I realize I have been fumbling blindly, shoving things at my horse and expecting them to stick, just like a small child with a toy.
We try bigger bits, tie downs, all sorts of fancy gadgets to make our toy work the way we think it should. We yank on their mouths and jab their sides with spurs until they don’t want to play with us anymore. Then, once we’ve broken it, we cry a little and toss the toy aside. If only we could be as the child, eager to learn and accept new knowledge, without egos getting in the way. It hurts to be told that we don’t know everything and yet it is exactly what we need to hear. And most of all to accept.
So, for today let my prayer and earnest desire be that God allows me to be childish in my quest for learning. To look for better, kinder and easier ways for both horse and rider. Not to scorn simply because something is different than the way I’ve always done it. Let me put aside hurt feelings when others offer advise, and to consider it carefully before implementing it or setting it aside. When decide against a new idea let it be because I thought and studied on it and decided it was wrong, instead of because I know everything and my way is right! Through out life let me learn and never stop because the more I know, the better I know how much there is still to learn.
Very well sed