The Kingdom of heaven is like a woman who owned a show horse.
She raised him to be a “dressage” horse, specially trained in obedience and precision of movement. Soon after he began to learn the art, the horse contracted a severe infection that nearly killed him and left him completely blind. The doctors told the woman her only options were to let him out to a treeless pasture or put him down. She did neither. Instead she determined to train him to the highest level of dressage possible.
“How was this going to work practically?” the woman wondered. The horse could not tell what she wanted or where she wanted him to go. He was terrified to leave his familiar stall. She thought to herself, “There is only one way I am able to communicate with my horse. I will be still inside myself and watch his body language. I will understand what makes him tick and attend to his fears, needs, comforts, and personal quirks.”
Thus, from within her quietness and patience, she led him, one stumbling step at a time, out of his stall.
Once she had taught the horse to walk around the arena without panicking or falling down on his front legs, she determined to ride him. Although after a few steps forward he could not maintain his equilibrium and went to his knees, the woman stayed on the horse and calmly leaned back until he again got up. Then they continued at a painstakingly slow pace, building the foundation for a life-long team effort.
Over the course of many years the two developed a very close relationship, and one day the woman realized her horse was ready for more challenge. It was time to prepare him to reach her dream that he be a dressage horse. At the beginning, his moves were not at all beautiful. As would always be the case, the horse’s two main challenges were to keep his balance and accept the woman’s assurance.
Finally, the horse was ready to go to the equestrian festival. His relationship to the woman was so secure that although the noise of horses, riders, and shouting trainers swirled around them, he kept his composure and listened only to her. Once the competition began, horse and rider continued to focus completely on one another’s signals, a habit that continued through one competition after another. By the end of the season, he had developed his skill to such a degree that he won one of his classes.
It all came down to trust, the woman said.1
1 Story source is from Jeanette Sassoon at http://www.valianttrust.org/. See also http://blindhorses.org/ and http://blog.rollingdogranch.org/.
I loved the story you sent about the blind horse and trust! I didn't know what to leave on the site so I just went to your email.
ReplyDeleteI actually used to take care of a horse that had a missing eye from a tumor and was almost blind in the other one. But the real treasure was that he had won all kinds of ribbons at shows when he was younger and he was born deaf. If we would wave our hands over our head to let him see movement, he would follow you into the stall and trust you to get him there. He was such w wonderful horse. He had to be put down after he injured the only eye he had and was too old to work with at that time. He wasn't mine and I had no say in it but it was very hard to let him go. He was a beautiful paint horse and his name was Beagle. A friend of mine had him from birth and she has always helped me when I needed help with the horses.
Paula
I really enjoyed the story. Trust is so important, it is something I have difficulty with like faith at times. Very nice. Thanks,
ReplyDeleteLyle