Merry Go Round
This morning, I woke up with a question on my mind. What life skills can you learn from being around a horse?
I did some research, read for a while, contemplated and then I decided it was time to go feed the horses. I put on my cold weather clothes, jumped in my boots, grabbed some cat food and headed for the barn.
The temp outside was 4 degrees, felt like -7 per the phone wizard and on my personal thermometer….burrr freaking cold. I do not like cold weather, PERIOD! I drop off the food for the cats and call for the horses. Grab their feed buckets, fill them, look around and they still have not come up.
The stage needs to be set here just a little. We have had some snow this past week, not a lot, but more than enough. The temps have been above freezing, the last few days, but only by a couple of degrees. We have had some thaw and refreeze. Last night the winds blew in the coldest air of the year, even if it is only the 13th of January. Gusts were up to about thirty miles an hour at times.
Needless to say the ground was frozen with snow and ice. Our land is mostly flat with very little runoff. I keep the round bale feeder at the back of the lot behind the big barn. I will call this spot the highest point of the property. Due to the weather conditions, the frozen lot made for some difficult terrain for the horses. If you have ever seen a horse walk over frozen ground you will understand when I say they never seem to be comfortable crossing it.
I called a couple of more times, still not one of them came. I walked back to the back of the property and there they were. The three of them like a real live merry go round. They were following each other around the bale feeder, circle after circle. Quite entertaining to say the least. Not one of them had the courage to take off on their own and tackle the frozen ground. I went back and rubbed on them, but still none of them would take the initiative to follow me.
I went and got a halter with a lead rope. I put the halter on the lead mare, Cinco. I asked her to just follow me across the ground. She did so willingly and we took our time making our way toward the feeding area. The other two mares followed in step. About halfway to the pen, I stopped, took the halter off and let her continue on her way, with the others by her side.
I thought about how this morning's adventure and how it related to the question that was on my mind earlier. What life skills may have been utilized by this morning's activity?
Being responsible is probably the first skill I encountered. We have animals, they need to be cared for, in this case, fed. They also need to be checked on to make sure they are ok.
I have an unconditional love for them, I want them to be safe and when they did not come to eat I was concerned for their well being. They don't normally miss a meal!
Once I walked around the back and observed them standing on the round bale island. I had empathy for them. You could tell, they wanted to eat, but were afraid to step out of their comfort zone. They just kept walking around in circles.
It was cold, I really wanted to go back inside, but the horses needed help. One might say patience was displayed by going and getting a halter and coming out to help them instead of letting them figure it out by themselves.
The leadership quality came into play when the halter was put on and I stepped onto the icy ground first, to show her it was no big deal. She willingly followed me, she trusted me not to lead her into harm's way. We became a team at that point and we worked together to ensure the other horses it was ok to follow.
Halfway to the destination, I removed the halter so she could experience the same confidence as the other horses. She had overcome fear and moved right out. My self-esteem probably kicked up a notch too, since It was a successful outcome.
Those horses….they can teach you something everyday. #itsyourjourney