A Horse Holiday Tale
Love Horses? Wait till you hear this.
Kathy’s Story:
Kathy and I were talking about her and her horse and the way the conversation developed is just mind blowing. Very moving.
The idea was to explore different roles and responsibilities in life and then look at how they apply with horses.
For example, in life, many women take care of the laundry. Kathy agreed that she pretty much took care of the laundry and that Bill, her dearly loved husband who has passed, took care of tack and cleaning tack. Those were obvious areas where one of them was in the lead.
A shared activity occasionally was that she would make a dish he particularly loved, if he would cut up all the vegetables for it. While this was a shared activity, she was still the leader in putting it all together and having it come out right.
This is where it begins getting really interesting. I know how much she still loves her husband and I asked her to talk about their relationship a bit.
Here is what she had to say:
- There was a lot of mutual Respect.
- We had Pride in each other.
- We had Concern for each other.
- We would Check In with each other to make sure we were reading the situation correctly.
- We had a lot of Patience with each other.
- We would Give Each Other Time and Space when needed to work through things.
- We were Tickled by each other – there was a light air and we would laugh and joke around.
- We Really Enjoyed each other.
By the time she had gone down this list that was so quickly available in her head, my eyes were moist thinking about the beauty of the amazing relationship they created together.
At this Holiday Time of Year, it made me think of how this describes the kind of relationship we all would like to have with our loved ones and other special people in our life.
And then I realized it also describes the kind of relationship we would love to have with our horse!
If we had a relationship with our horse that was full of:
- Politeness
- Respect
- Pride
- Concern
- Always Checking In to see how they are doing
- Patience
- Giving Each Other Time and Space to learn and understand
- Being Tickled and Enjoying each other’s company
The Perfect Recipe
Isn’t this what we always wanted! Isn’t this a perfect recipe for a fantastic relationship and for a lifetime of mutually fulfilling and fun times with our horse!
As long as we remember who the Chef is – There can be only one Chef. The Chef is ultimately responsible for the meal. And the other is grateful for it.
Our horse is grateful to us for being the leader – 51% leader and no less – in our shared activities.
Then we can have what we always wanted.
Here’s to our never-ending love affair with horses!
Horses Forever!
Pat Moses
30+ years supporting horse lovers
P.S. If you or someone you know would like to expand this “special something” that we all know is possible, feel free to email Pat@Horse-Solutions.com. Subject: Set up free 15-minute phone call.
P.P.S. Click this link if you would like to receive the Free Report Series: Horse Frustrations? You Are Not Alone
I love this post. It is so true how we treat people in our world is a parallel with our relationship with our post.
My personal and work relationships have improved emencely since studying the Parelli program. I feel different about how I internalize communication. This is especially true when I have feelings of conflict. I never was good with conflict. I read the situation so much better. I look for the good, look to truly communicate (Principle #3) and I have firm boundaries. All this allows for healthy relationships. And in the horse world, my horse partnership is blossoming!
Happy New Year!!!!