She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. Proverbs 31:13
The virtuous cowgirl is hard working. She knows her trade, makes selections, and is eager to get to work.
As a horseman, she knows her horses. She can spot a good one from a mile away and rarely is she ever mistaken. She understands that each horse is created by it's Creator and must be nurtured accordingly. She can't pick out a racehorse colt or filly and expect it to settle in and do the work of a steady ranch horse. That horse has running bred into it. In the same way she can't pick a plow horse and expect it run down a stray calf either. They may be able to get the job done, but not well and not reliably. No, she knows she need to pick a horse with the right type of bloodline and conformation to do the job she needs it to do.
She works these horses for the purpose of making good citizens in the equine community. She doesn't collect them and let them sit. Again, she knows her trade, she knows her time, and she knows when to select more colts and fillies, and when to not take on more projects than she has time for.
The selection of colts and fillies is probably one of the highlights of her life. It's not something she does often, maybe just once a year at the most. He life is full of many other tasks, as we will learn as we continue through the Virtuous Cowgirl passage. This task gives her great joy and enthusiasm.
Personally, I do not routinely select colts and fillies, that is not what my job requires. But I do select many nice horses for our program at The Farm and for clients. Horses never lie, like God, they are not a man, therefore they cannot lie. What you see it what you get. Some may have had some past trauma or neglect that you need to work through and some need to be worked through, but their disposition does not change.
Many think that they can change a horse. That with enough training they will become a good quiet horse they need to build their, or their kids', confidence. The truth is, those horses are born, not made. Horses are just like us, they are born with their personalities and traits. Some of it is nurtured, but the majority of it is a natural trait. You have to look at the horse for what they are, not what you want them to be.
Comments