Dances with Horses: Training Progression

The Naming

Not just anyone can name you. Often times our first name is given by our parents. It seems only right that our mother and father who have brought us into the world should have the first right to place their seal and connect their authority through the use of name. Often the second people to rename us are the peers within our group. There is often a hint of teasing and jostling for position connected to these renamings within our American youth culture. In many native cultures renaming is connected to a coming of age ceremony, through which one learns or acknowledges their personal role within the society. It is usually connected to their personal giftings by the Great Spirit or the recognized deity within that culture. In the Bible there are stories of renaming that are usually connected to a change of situation, personality or character. When women marry often there is a change in name associated with the change in position in life.

My renaming was attempted by many. There were the kids who tried to tack their labels on me. Some stuck with pricks sharp enough to motivate change. This led to a struggle that wounded the fragile sense of image that I clung to, until the day the Lord began my renaming. I say, began because my renaming was a process that continues on today. First He un-named me. He tore away at all the labels and mis-conceptions that the enemy of our souls had tried, through various means, to adhere to my soul, destroying who God had created me to be. As He stripped back the layers of lies, He began to expose the truth, who I was in Him.

There were a few mentors that the Lord has brought into my life, to speak truth into my soul. This truth speaking drove back the lies and began to break through the hard exterior I had wrapped around my soul, protecting it from the barbs. Strange, how the self-protective methods we use, often keep us from what we need or really desire. One such mentor was Curtis Wright. One day up in Yosemite, among the grandeur of the tower pines, sequoias and maples, Curtis called me by name. Funny, how you can recognize your name, though you had never been called out by it before. From that day on, I have aspired to live up to that name. It is how this blog got its name, Dances with Horses.

Yet, ultimately my most important name is simple. It is found in a possessive pronoun. It would be unidentifiable admist the others who could claim it. Yet, when He calls me by this name all else fads away. Nothing else matters when I truly allow the truth of who I am to settle in to the crevices of my heart. Who am I? Simply, "His."

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Progress Bit by Bit

Training should always be taken apart into little bite sized pieces.

When you plan your training program, make sure you take the whole apart to its small individual pieces and build one upon another. You don't build a house in a day. You must start with the pre-work, clear the land, build the forms for the concrete lay the plumbing and electrical and then pour the foundation.

When you plan to teach a horse to do anything you must start with small pieces and then build upon those pieces.

Helpful Questions to Ask
~What is my end goal?
~ What pieces make up the final product?
~ What components do I need in myself as a rider or handler to be able to effectively explain this to the
horse?
~ What does my horse need to understand before he or she can learn the first of these pieces that make
up the final product?
~ Is my horse ready for this piece?
~ Am I ready for this piece?
~ How will I handle set backs?

When you plan for progress to be slow and steady you set yourself and your horse up for success.

Here is to eating your ball of string, one bite at a time.

Dances with Horses

The Naming

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Progress Bit by Bit

My Blog List

Labels