There are many levels of trust in the relationship I am building with Ashke.There is my trust that Ashke is going to make good decisions and keep me safe. There is the trust that I will make good decisions and keep him safe. There is the trust that I have the capability to ride him without hurting him. And the trust that I can ride him without putting myself in harms way. Some of this trust is trust in myself, some of it is an active engagement with Ashke.
I think it is amazing that Ashke has the capacity to trust. He was almost starved to death and yet has held nothing back when it comes to interacting with me. That's not to say he hasn't been scared, because he has - thinking back to trailering him to Bear Creek for example. But even when he is scared he is careful with me. Well, except for the biting. It definitely gets worse when he is stressed.
I think right now my biggest issue is with learning to trust myself again. Trust myself to stay on when something unexpected happens. Trust myself to react properly when his feet don't stay on the ground. Trust that he is not mean spirited or out of control, but just releasing energy and excitement when that type of thing happens. Trust that he is smart enough not to react in a dangerous way.
I'm sure there will be more on this later . . .
It is always been interesting to me how much working with horses shows us our own "stuff." Many times I came to the conclusion: "if I make this change in myself, and how I react to this, I get better results from my horse."
ReplyDelete(I'm trying to apply this wisdom to the kids too...)