So it has been a crazy week or two I have worked extremely hard to balance kids, clients and mustangs. Most people that love to hear about our mustang adventures forget that I have a string of clients horses that I am constantly working also. It gets pretty crazy.
So to update on my girls. Both are progressing about the same rate. They are bathing, leading, loading, and riding. I haven't been able to ride them as much as I would like but again the time balance has been tough this year. A few days ago for the sake of putting weight on Sable I decided that I needed to let them out with my herd. Many trainers don't let them out before the competition for fear of them getting hurt. Last year I had the same frame of mind and by the time of the competition I had a very depressed mustang. Last year I figured it would be harder to catch him and he would revert to his wild ways. Well even now when I let them out they are a little more wild but this year I changed the way I think. I figure if I can get them to come up to the barn even in their wilder state of mind then I don't worry about them when they are more focused. So to test this theory this is what I did. Both mares were somewhat hard to catch at the beginning of the week. But were great once on the halter. So I challenged my training skills a bit and took Sable to the arena and let her loose while I worked with Sunday in the open round pen. Sable was calm and cool. When I was finished with Sunday I decided to let her go out with the herd for the evening. When she got to the back where the horses were they all greeted her. All was fine until she laid her ears back at Spade. He was wasn't happy! He wheeled around and they met tail to tail and squealed and kicked. I was amazed I have seen horses fight over the years but two mustangs are a totally different story. As I watched this "discussion" I noticed that they where making a lot of racket and stirring a lot of dust but they weren't injuring each other. After Spade took about 10 minutes to put her in her place they all grazed happily together. I returned to get Sable out of the arena. She was weird at first but every time she would walk away I would slap my halter lightly against my pants. She would look at the noise and I would turn and walk off. After about three or four times of this she started walking at me when I would walk off. So I would keep walking. In about 5 min she was following me all over my arena at liberty. This is what I refer to as "the invisible lead rope". I do this to all horses that come in, I truly believe that it is what makes all my colts confidant. After haltering her and riding her for the day I decided one new mustsng was enough for my herd for one day. So I took Sable back to the mustang pens.
That night when they came up that night for feeding I checked Spade and Sundays legs and neither horse had a scratch. So yesterday I put Sunday in the arena and did the same thing I did with Sable. It worked again. Now both of them will follow me with out any issues. Sable is riding like an old rope horse. Sunday is a little tougher. She is a little scatter brained from time to time but her body is way more sturdy then Sables. It will be interesting to see how they end up.
When writing this I couldn't help but think about us as christians in the church. I know every time I would go to a new church or some one new comes to my church there is always a pecking order established, whether we realize it or not. And just like the horses in most cases they just find where they fit in and go on about their business. But every now and then there will be a confrontation and the fur will fly. What? Were you unaware that "church people" can fight? Sometimes with the best of them...the only difference is they will say nasty things and them justify it with a "bless your heart" tag on the end of it. I can't tell you how many times over the years I have heard people make statements like "I love her to death, but she has an attitude problem. Bless her heart!" about others in their church family. Like sugar coating it makes it so much better! Lol. In our church I enjoy it because it is real. We have a church culture that teaches against being offended. Things can be said, discussions had, but in the end everyone makes sure that we all go home without an emotional scratch or a scar. In Matthew 18:15-17 I tells us how to deal with offenses. 15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’[b] 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. I believe as people of God that we should have the integrity of speaking up when we have been offended and working it out with the other person. I love the example the mustangs set for us on this. They have no issue with battling it out. They know to get things settled right away so we can move on for the benefit of the herd. Before coming to my current church I went through four church splits in five years and it was very emotional and heart breaking. And all of them stemmed from people not working out there offenses. Instead they would go around a slander each other like wolves. I hated going though that but I am so glad that I did, because it gave me a passion about doing the right thing. Since learning this principle I haven't had any drama in my life. The more I watch how an equine herd functions they more I see the comparison to the church. I think I still have a lot more that I can learn from these guys. The particular lesson I am glad I learned. I know that it has helped me make stronger relationship all around my life. Something to think about..
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