Where do you find your confidence? What makes you feel secure? In whom do you trust?
Blessed are those who trust in the Lord. Blessed: happy, peaceful, full of joy. If that is what you desire in your soul, then you need to trust the Lord. You trust Him by allowing him to have complete control in your life. By not getting upset over the little things, or when things don't go your way. Relinquish those things to the Lord, for He is omnipotent (all powerful) and Lord of all. The Lord causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him. (Romans 8:28)
How much do you wish you horse trusted you? Or do you have that the other way around, would you rather that you could trust your horse more? Both of those are good things to desire. To achieve them though, it all starts with you. First of all, you have to take the leadership role the horse is looking for. If you do not take that role your horse will never trust you and will take over that role for themselves. Leaving a horse to think for itself is as dangerous as allowing us to think for ourselves. (See yesterday's #CornerstoneVerseOfTheDay for more about that.)
If you wish you could trust your horse more, that also starts with you taking that leadership role. It takes a very special horse that can carry its rider confidently while the rider lacks confidence. So far in my life I have only had two horses like that, whom I could count on in any and every situation. They are out there, but they are rare finds and exception to the norm. With one of them I did have to assert myself at leader in the beginning or else he would not have been half the horse he was. But the leadership roles had to be established.
With becoming leader, you have to be worthy of being a leader. You have to be consistent, not daily, but in every interaction with your horse you must always be the same. I see many who try different trainers and techniques, which you do need to find what works for you, but find one and stick with it! Don't change your approach every time after you watch a trainer or work with a different instructor. Good horsemen all have the same foundation in their training, they may execute it in a slightly different manner. Watch those guys and find what works for you and your horse. The sign of a good trainer is the fact that they can adapt for a horse to help them understand rather than get mad with them.
You also have to clear your mind of baggage that does not pertain to your horse. If you get mad at them for something that happened to you at work, or school, or in any other part of your day, you are not doing your horse any favors. They do not understand how your emotions affect them; all they know is what is going on right now. You cannot carry your life into your relationship with your horse. If you feel yourself not in a good mental spot that day, then just spend time grooming or hand grazing your horse. You will both benefit.
I can share plenty of times where I got frustrated with horses and took things out on them that had nothing to do with them. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I had an anger that I couldn't even tell you where it came from. I can tell you now, it was just an anger that is within each and every one of us and when we live in the flesh it shows. But Romans 8 describe well how we are to no longer live by the flesh, but by the Spirit of God which dwells within us. Once I began living by the Spirit, the desires of the flesh began to die away. They are not gone completely, but they no long rule my thoughts and my life.
This is the secret to a content life. Trust God in all things, big and small. Let go, and let God handle these things. When I recognize certain things weighing on my thoughts, I turn them into prayer and take them to the One who can handle them. Start with just one thing and watch the Lord go to work.
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