Fear is the primary motivator, or I should state "demotivator" in almost any endeavor for us humans. In fact, fear, is one of the many things we have directly in common with the horse. The horse knows what it is afraid of. "Anything that moves." We humans know what we're afraid of. "Anything that can maim, kill, or severely injure us, both physically and psychologically." The difference between us and the horse is we will stop and take the time to think about our fear. Some of us will do this in the local pubs, some of us will do this at home, alone or with others, and some of us will do everything possible to block out this fear by keeping ourselves so busy we avoid thinking about it at all. But, that very act of trying to block it out only makes our fear much more dangerous. I will not fly on an airplane unless absolutely necessary; which, for me, means just about never. This is a self imposed fear; I blame my Air Force experiences for most of it. I wasn't afraid of flying before I joined; but 20 years later you could not pay me to get on an airplane. And, this was well before 9/11. For some reason I'm rarely afraid of the horse. I don't know why. My personal belief is that I used to be a horse; many lifetimes ago, but, let's not go there. Religion is not the way to talk about fear. Or, maybe, religion and fear are so closely intertwined, it's just safer not to mention the two words in the same sentence. My religion has become my horse; it is thru him that I truly see God. If you fear a horse, to me, the odds of you getting hurt by one are a hundred times greater than someone like myself, who fears them not at all. In fact, I've had visions of me dying while riding a horse. In my dream, I don't get thrown; I just die a natural death while riding in the saddle, and I never come down. The horse continues to trot, on and on and on, forever thru eternity. And, I die with a smile on my face. You may, or may not, ever be able to overcome your fear of the horse. I will never overcome my fear of the airplane. I've seen too many pictures of the wings just ripping off the sides from lack of maintenance or over flying the airframe long after it should have been retired. The horse lets you know when it's time for him to retire; owners of airliners may elect to ignore the messages their planes tell them when the wings should be retired. This is because the horse is so much more honest than the greedy human who owns a soon to be bankrupt airline. I trust the horse much more than I trust the human. If you fear the horse, you may ask yourself why. Is it because you're not strong enough to stop the creature when he decides to go his own way? Is it because you've been thrown so many times that your hospital bill is starting to look like a World.com accounting audit? Or, do you lack the confidence that other riders possess and you wish you could grasp? I have no answer here. To me, the horse has become so much a part of my life, if the creature decides to leap off a cliff someday, with me on him, I'll go down screaming, but, not out of fear. Out of shear joy for knowing that I'm alive (not for long). My final words to the world just might be, "Oh, Shit!" I will yell them out at the top of my lungs, and be grateful that Death has greeted me on the back of a horse, and not inside an airplane. Enjoy the experience on the back of a horse, and if you come to realize it's the only place that really makes you happy, you will eventually overcome any fear you might have had. Experience it for what it is. You're in charge; you are in control of this wonderful creature. The more you ride, the less dangerous it becomes, for you and your equine partner. I know that I probably haven't helped one person who has this fear with my post; but I bet some of those who "enjoy" the runaway experience, and see it as a thrill and a challenge, instead of a dreaded fear where you actually consider bailing, might agree with me that this is the way to be while riding a horse. Show no fear and enjoy the moment, for it will all be gone one day, as quick as the blink of an eye. Make it a part of your life, like no other, and you will never be afraid again. cya, Howard (my wife can scare the crap out of me, so, please don't think I think I'm brave. I'm not, I'm a chicken, just like my horse.) ----- Original Message ----- From: Celeste Comfort Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 11:37 AM To: Annie George; RideCamp Subject: Re: [RC] Fear Been there, done that. I can really relate to this
one. I was looking for an trail horse for my
daughter, when my husband and I went out to check out
a mare that sounded just right. I should of known
something was up when the owner said she couldn't make
it out to show us the hores, but he barn manager would
help us out. RED FLAG!! Anyway, got there checked
her out, put her in the round pen. Looked good, and
decided to try her out in the arena. Well, let me
tell you as soon a I was about to set my backside in
the saddle that mare started bucking like there was to
tomorrow!!! My husband didn't know what to do. I
hung on until she was heading for some jumps, and
that's when I bailed. Thank goodness I had a helmet
on. I used to never wear one, until I thought to
myself, I keep yelling at my daughter that she has to
wear one, what kind of example am I not wearing one.
Back to that mare. My husband said that when she was
bucking she had all four feet in the air off the
ground around 3 feet high. Now this was a horse I had
told the owner was going to be for my 12yr old
daughter. The barn manager said he had never see this
mare do that. Yea, right, and I have bridge to sell
you cheep. You just never know, and I don't bounce
like I use to.
Cheers
Celeste
--- Annie George <ageorge@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> When I go to look at any horse that I may be
> involved in ridding, or handling even if it is only
> to fit a saddle, I always ask the owner to handle
> the horse, saddle it, ride, pick up feet,all of it.
> I want to see how the person relates to the horse,
> you can tell if they are afraid of it. If they don't
> want to ride their own horse I sure don't. You never
> know, if a person is selling a horse,just for safety
> sake, I always assume there is something wrong with
> it, and I want to try to figure out what it is
> before I get stomped into a mud puddle. Always
> assume the worst from a strange horse. Annie G.
> Anne George Saddlery www.vtc.net/~ageorge
>
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