The Day That Pablo Got It Right

I'd like to introduce you to Pablo Erikson, descendant of the great Viking warhorses. In all honesty his heritage probably isn't that grand, but if you knew him you would understand the embellishment. Pablo is a character.

We became well acquainted on my first trail clearing ride at Glorieta. He was our packhorse and carried the chainsaws, fuel and other tools. When we reached the top of Baldy after a 4+ hour ride, we stopped for lunch and turned the horses loose to graze. Pablo, friendly fellow that he is, came over to see if what we were eating was more tasty than grass and took interest in my sandwich. I thought it was cute and hopped up to snap a photo. Much to my surprise, when I returned to my seat there was a large bite missing out of my lunch!  That was just the beginning... Pablo kept my life interesting by mastering the art of snatching Lefty's wallet out of his back pocket, fitting an entire lead rope in his mouth like a wad of gum, blowing out his belly to keep his cinch loose and giving me the innocent look when I came out of the tackroom to see what the disturbance was at the tie rail.

Known as the horse with the mohawk, he often lived up to it and was a real punk. But every now and again, the mischief gave way to a glimpse of something brighter. One of those times came on a day when the mud was so deep it was seeping into the tops of my boots. The trails were much too slick to ride and so I was filling my day with barn chores. About half way through the morning I decided to let the horses out into a small area of grass we had fenced off with electric wire for grazing. Since I was going to be at the barn, I could keep an eye on them and let them enjoy the good grass - a rare treat in New Mexico!

So, I started making my way out into the pasture, whistling and calling. The mud and muck were deep and slick and I slipped, slid and almost face planted several times. When I finally found a few of the herd, I started making my way behind them to drive them in, thinking all the while how much they were going to enjoy that grass. However, as soon as they sensed my intention to take them in, they snorted, wheeled and ran away into the hills. They thought I was going to make them work. I started to follow, slipped once more and realized that it was useless - there was no way I was going to catch them in footing that bad. 

Frustrated and muddy I headed back to the barn. As I rounded the corner to the catch pen, I heard a noise and looked up. There was Pablo looking expectantly at me, "Hi! I'm here! What are we going to do?" I laughed, patted his neck and led him out to the grazing area where he spent several hours with the grass all to himself (the stuff of dreams for that pony).

As I walked away, recalled that C.S. Lewis once wrote we are all like children who continue making mudpies because we cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea.  I wondered how many times Jesus had wanted to offer me green pastures and I chose mud instead. I'll probably never know in this life, but the day that Pablo got it right has inspired me to keep my heart open for any sea holidays that might look like just more work at first glance.

Walk Easy

Waiting. Not my favorite word. I prefer words like go, move forward, and take it and run. Such words bring the fresh wind of adventure with them and make me feel excited. But waiting...waiting makes me feel stuck. I've been intensely struggling with waiting for a while now - spinning my wheels until the ruts are deeper than my tires, chomping at the bit until my mouth bleeds - getting frustrated with myself and with God because I couldn't make sense of it all.

Enter Cinnamon -  a little, sorrel Quarter Horse mare that I started riding when I sub as a wrangler on the occasional weekend. What started as a working relationship grew into a hobby and I currently ride her at least once a week. Cinnamon is very smart, sensitive and talented. She is also extremely energetic and likes to run - all the time. One day we were out riding in the pasture and I started getting frustrated because I could not get her to walk. She was interpreting my every cue as a signal to move forward. However, that's not what I wanted. I wanted her to slow down, soften up and listen to me. Not that I have anything against running - I too love to run. However, I wanted her to quiet herself and understand what I was asking so that we could not just run but also harness that energy and dance. Every time she tried to rush ahead of me, I would pull her back and breathe, "waaaalllk... easy girl, just walk." And so we walked...and walked... and walked.

And as we walked, God placed His finger on my heart and told me that Cinnamon and I had a lot in common. I too needed to learn to discern the subtlety of different cues so that we could dance. In my rushing I was not only wasting energy that was better spent elsewhere but also passing up the opportunity to learn something greater. In order to attain that, I had to wait - listen and walk easy.

1 Peter 3:4 states that a gentle and quiet spirit is precious to God. I think that His response to our willing waiting is probably along the lines of the pleasure I felt today when, after several weeks of walking, Cinnamon and I started to dance a little. I felt her settle down and listen - she steadied her pace and bent under light pressure from my leg as she played with the bit in her mouth waiting for her next cue from my hands. I thought, "Yes, here we go!" Now, we can start to do great things.

Horse Tales 3: Part 2 - The Good Shepherd

Interestingly, after Part 1 happened on Saturday, my pastor preached on Psalm 23 on Sunday. Part of the sermon focused on the last part of verse 3, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." The pastor said that the first verse of this section would be better translated, "He guides me on the right paths" and that it pictures the shepherd physically guiding His sheep down the right path.

He noted that the shepherd does not give his sheep a map of the right paths and say, "good luck!" Instead, he walks with them down the paths and shows them the way to go. From my experience working with animals, this probably involves physically blocking off the wrong path to prevent them from taking it!

The second part of this section says that He guides me in this way, "for His name's sake." In other words, if the shepherd showed up without his sheep, he would be ridiculed and never trusted with sheep again. I can't imagine having a group show up and having to tell them the ride was canceled because I could not get the horses to come in. That is simply not an option. I will go out and chase down each individual horse and walk them back in personally if necessary.

Since God is The Good Shepherd, He must guide His sheep rightly to protect His name. It is for His glory that He guides us on the right path. These two truths are such a comfort for me. Somehow, along the way, I have picked up the idea that God likes to sit back and watch me struggle to find His will. But it is not so! He is there with me, every step of the way, opening doors and closing off the way to the wrong path. And He will do it always because it is for His name's sake.

Additionally, the pastor mentioned that the shepherd would also often carry fruit in his hands behind his back so that the sheep would want to follow him. So, when I brought the horses in on Sunday, I took some feed out with me...and the whole herd came in!

Horse Tales 3: Part 1 - Follow Me

I ran trail rides at camp this last weekend. It's always an adventure. One of the first things I have to do is bring in all the horses we need for the group. In the off season, they're way out in the winter pasture, so the easiest way is to drive them in with the four-wheeler.

Before heading out, I put a little feed in each stall so that they would be rewarded for coming in and occupied long enough for me to shut the stall doors. The "Old Guys" have been fed every day this winter, so they were actually waiting for me at the gate. However, the rest of the herd was way out, so I drove out there and tried to encourage them to come in with much calling and waving of a riding whip.

Romeo and Onyx came in fairly easily, but Kiefer and Reggie gave me the run around and eventually out ran me. Romeo is one of our steady-eddies and his experience told him that though there was work ahead, there was also good things to be had in the barn. Kiefer and Reggie are newer and haven't yet realized that they will come in one way or the other - whether they follow my initial call or I have to come back out with halters and lead ropes.

Later, it struck me that we are often like these horses. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 14:24). There are some of us who are waiting at the gate for God's call and follow as soon as He opens the door. Others of us wait for Him to come after us, but willingly follow after we see that it is the best option at hand. Still others of us make every effort to evade His calling (it means work after all!) and don't follow till He comes after us with a halter and lead.

But, even though following His call often means leaving the good we can see now (the green grass of the pasture), God knows that the good He has ahead is even better (the feed in the barn) and that His plan is really in our best interest.

So, the question I am left asking myself is, how do I respond to God's calling in my life?

Horse Tales 2: Relax!

So, as I mentioned...um...three weeks ago, I am a sporadic journal-er at best, so I'm probably even a worse blogger. I even added the little Blogger widget to my homepage so it is there staring at me every time I bring up Safari. However, every time I start thinking about something to write, fear creeps it. I over analyze and decide that it's not worth writing anyhow. I'm letting my fear paralyze me.

Now, my blog-o-phobia is not that big of a deal, except that it is standing in the way of my goal to be a better blogger. But, I've discovered that developing a discipline of overcoming fears is an important part of enjoying life.

I remember one time when I was at a show, about to ride a dressage test from memory. Right before the bell rang for my horse and I to enter the ring, I became afraid that I would not remember where I should perform each element of the test. I unconsciously tensed up and as a result, Captain refused to enter the ring.

Horses are amazing mirrors of human emotions. Their reactions are quick and honest. I was afraid and so he was afraid too. I became frustrated that he would not go forward and so he became both frustrated and afraid. My cues were telling him to go forward, but my body language was telling him that there was something scary ahead.

Finally, I realized what was happening and took a very deep breath, forced my body to relax and calmly asked him to enter the ring. He immediately picked up the trot I had asked for and, lo and behold, I remembered my test.

Now, there are times that it is good to listen to your fears - such as the feeling that you should not run out in front of a moving car because it might hit you - and I am not advocating a lack of common sense. However, most of the fears I face on a daily basis are not based on common sense but instead on anxiety, forgotten truth or a lack of trust. Developing the habit of overcoming these little joy-suckers takes intentionality and a bit of courage. But God wants us to live in love and not fear and is delighted when we choose to walk in His love instead of our fears.

So, sit up straight, take a deep breath and walk on in His love.

Horse Tales 1: Look Over the Jump!

While in New Mexico this summer, I'm going to be running their horseback riding program. So, in an effort to combine my love of horses with my passion for story, I've been thinking back through my years of working with horses to come up with stories about what I've learned about myself, life and God through working with these amazing animals.

I figured that chronicling them here would make me think them through more thoroughly and hopefully help me come up with some new ones. Here's one I've used before...it's applicable to my life right now, though I don't know how often I'll use it while teaching western (the saddle horns make jumping a little hazardous.)

Jumping is one of my favorite things to do on a horse. It's about as close as you can get to flying without wings. You point your horse at an obstacle, canter up to it and then they take flight - soaring over the jump and landing on the other side (ideally). It's an adrenaline rush.

When you are approaching the jump, you have to look at it carefully, line up your horse for the best approach and choose a take off spot. However, there comes a time when you have to stop looking at the jump and instead look over it. This is because the focus of your eyes directs your body weight which in turn directs your horse. I always tell my students that you need to look where you want to go. You want to end up over the jump and not on the jump. Therefore, you need to look over the jump.

It comes down to trust. You have to trust your horse to carry you over the jump. Honestly, it's a little scary. But, when you make that jump together, you are in for one amazing experience.

The principle translates into life as well. We are faced with many obstacles as we navigate our life. We have to look at them, size them up, and determine our best approach. Common sense is important. But there comes a point in time when you have to stop looking at the obstacle and instead look over it. Stop focusing on the problem and instead focus on God. Trust Him to carry you over the jump. Staying focused on God helps keep the problem in proper proportion. And when you make that jump together - there's nothing else like it!

So - as I find myself saying over and over in the ring - Eyes up! Look over the jump!