Last weekend, Multiple, All Around, World Champion, Patty Johnson, gave a clinic here at the Farm.  As usual, I was running around making sure everything was as it should be, before I mounted up. That day I was riding my three-year-old western pleasure prospect, Legacy.  Usually I take time to cinch her up slowly, lung her for a bit, tighten the girth again, and then mount up.  In my excitement, I just tightened up the girth, and got on so I could catch up with the flow of the clinic. Legacy began to swish her tail and wanted to step into the lope.  I checked myself to see if I was tense or over riding her.  I didn't feel like I was.  All of a sudden, she stopped her feet, put her head down, and quickly dropped to her knees and then her side.  I got my legs out of the way (trying to decide weather to ride it out and stay on her until she got up, or get off while the getting was good!)  Patty firmly instructed me to get off, so I did! As soon as I could get to my feet I made her get up. I let her know what she had done was wrong and should never happen again.  Then I got on and rode her through her distress. We decided she had been 'girthy' or upset that her girth was too tight.  It can cause them to panic and act in a manner that is dangerous to both the rider as well as themselves.  Legacy had chosen to completely disengage.  She had a temper tantrum.   She refused to move because of her fear and frustration.  She panicked and couldn't breathe.  At that point she was endangering my safety (broken legs hurt and are a big waste of time!) as well as her own.  If I had let her lay there I would have rewarded a bad behavior and in essence trained her to act this way every time she didn't like something or became afraid.  I had to get her up and drive her thru her fear.  As a result she could remain a safe, kind, useful, filly with great potential and value!  My initial response was to rescue her and loosen her girth before I got back on. On second thought, I realized I had to ride her through the problem so the learning process could be completed.  I drove her through the problem with the hope of developing her potential.

I would have caused damage to her by not correcting her; I would have blocked her potential by not allowing her to find the right answer.

What looked like I was being hard on her was actually the kindest thing I could do.  I made her stand up, move thru her fear, and find a way to deal with her discomfort. I allowed the right answer to be easier to make than the wrong one.  It became easier to get up and move than to stay motionless on the ground.  She found her own way to work through her distress and true learning took place.

I would never hurt Legacy without good cause.  I love her. She is my little Lamborghini!  She is the very best Western Pleasure horse I've ever raised or had the pleasure to ride.  Since I know her potential and her value to me, I am committed to letting her succeed at the highest level possible. 

To let her quit out of fear wouldn't be an act of love, but of being uncommitted to her best.

After she worked thru her discomfort and fear, her willingness and ability to engage captured my heart once again.  The rest of the clinic she gave one hundred percent and seemed to really enjoy the process!  Her softness in my hands, willingness to try, and positive mental attitude are just a few of the reasons she is my dream western pleasure horse!

I find myself acting like Legacy sometimes.  I'll be going down the Life Trail and something scary pops up or the trail takes an unexpected turn.  I may get scarred, angry or frustrated.  I may panic because I feel overwhelmed. If it's more than I think I can handle,I disengage.  I get neutralized. I may try to take a short cut or settle for less than my best, just so I don't have to face my fear of the unknown.  But God, knowing my potential, my purpose, must get me moving again.  He knows what it takes to get me moving in the right direction and finding my own answers.  I may feel like the devil himself is attacking me, but in actuality he's not the cause of my dis-ease.  It may be that I am stuck in my own fear, anxiety or (worse yet) mediocrity!  He knows there is a more excellent way for me and He's committed to my best!
The old saying, "You will always succeed if you refuse to quit", applies both to our horses and to our selves.  We must move through our problems to find victory.  The Word says, 'you will go through the river, but it will not overtake you', and'you will go through the fire, but not get burned'.  Success is on the other side of the obstacle.  Joy always comes after the trial! 

Are you engaging the level of challenge and opportunity that you thought you would or did you have to bring your dreams down to match your life?  Have you given up on accomplishing something significant and meaningful?  Have you gotten "cinchy" and layer down?  Have your fears, failures, phobias, habits, negative patterns or addictions stopped your feet?  Have you accepted where you are as your highest level of achievement?  Have you set your limits around your circumstances?
Failure can become a state of being.  So can living in fear and doubt.

A life of faith is a life of expectation.  When you expect it pulls you forward through inspiration and optimism and pushes you forward through confidence and courage. Expectation propels you forward, sometimes pulling, sometimes pushing you.  Faith pushes you to pursue a God-sized dream and hope pulls and inspires you to never quit until it is a reality.  When we live lives of expectation and hope we are driven forward to do nothing less than create the future!

Are you willing to give up what you have for what you could create?  Are you willing to give up what you know for what you don't know?  Do you keep shrinking back or lying down?  Are you perpetually living in a state of disengagement?  Are you willing to risk everything to live the life you could create?