So Danial, I have thought long and hard about this, and about my reply. George (Doe’s Leap) has recently written to me to share some of what I have been up to working with my new geldings, and while I am not going to put this here in your post, the thoughts that I have pertaining to that enterprise have some association with what you have gone through.
First of all, I am glad that you are sound after such an ordeal.
I also want to say that I am not one hundred percent sure what point you were trying to make, but it seems that most of it was focused on how fast horses can react, and how vigilant we need to be when handling them.
And to that point I would say that no matter how stoved in I was, I would never have let those two men anywhere near those, or the other horses that day. I am not blaming them for the accident, but clearly at least one minimally contributed. The point is not to blame them, but to continue with your self-appointed task.
That for me is where the focus and vigilance builds from. I go get those horses, walk them back to the barn, one at a time if necessary, and start over, also maybe one at a time this time.
I know that they only thought they were helping out, but it seems clear that they also did not see the importance of this as a training moment. The disconnect that was allowed to occur at the choice of the horses, was not acceptable, and needed to be addressed (if only for you to reconnect to take of halters and leads). I do not mean that there was any malice, just that there was some level of confusion, and some reason for which they thought that they would reject your leadership.
The way the situation was resolved did not address that.
It is not a bridge that cannot be crossed again. And I do not mean to insinuate that this was a major failure. I just feel that my comments need to be focused on encouraging you to assert your prominence in situations like this. If not for the farm or for the horses, then for you as a developing teamster.
Sure you should accept the caring assistance of your workmates, but the truth is that we cannot share our prominence as leaders to the animals we work with. It is based on personal ownership of our actions and activities, and in this modern world we are trained to be more humble than that. Unfortunately, accommodating and humble are essential attributes, but they require extra time, experience and skill to use appropriately.
To be effective they need to be offset by some elbow. As subordinate participants in cultural life we are trained not to fill our complete essence. We are trained to apologize, and to accommodate, to withhold our utmost expressions of individuality, and independence.
Working with horses has been huge for me to understand this, and to fill out as the person I am supposed to be. As I have explained many time before, for me it all, always comes down to pressure and release. The pressure that I carry with me all the time is the way I carry myself. I am full, and present, and that is a constant that I never compromise on. Horses can read that.
Working with the new geldings I have seen this in play while working alongside some novices. Many people rely on technique, method, and conditioned responce to make sure horses are going along with the intended task, and of course they will, to a degree, but they can clearly read how secure that leadership is.
Accommodation and cooperation are the release, the reward, but they are largely ineffective if they are used to attract reciprocation. Horses are simple, and while they want to be comfortable and trusting, they also will not be attracted to us if we do not somehow define for them who we are. We need to carve out our form in the environment of the farm and working system that they are a part of.
In this instance I will not rehash any of the specifics, or search for blame, just reiterate that for me the discipline that leads to owning one’s self in the leadership role starts with not relinquishing that role. That means not allowing your caring friends to take over that role, not allowing the horses to bypass your leadership without some reinforcement.
I hope these comments first of all make sense, and more importantly, I hope they are appropriate. I have seen you around horses, and kept up with you to some degree through the network. You have innate skill, and drive. I only intend to encourage you toward fulfilling that for yourself.
Carl
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