Exhausted, I forgot last night, that my young mare, Raya, is so shy and skittish. I walked straight into her space and swung my arms around her neck to give her a hug. Too tired to remember to moderate my motions, the flannel shirt that I had been holding flopped wildly around her neck.
My previously spooky mare simply melted into my embrace, flannel shirt and all.
We hugged under the moon and I kissed her on the check.
"I love you Raya," I said as I walked away.
Then I remembered. Raya doesn't like to hug that close! Raya doesn't really like to hug at all!
The entire episode has me wondering: How often do our projections of how we think our horses will act, effect our behavior and then their behavior? Vashka doesn't like to be scratched around his face-- unless a stranger who doesn't know this scratches his nose. Then Vashka bends his face in the middle of my admonition: "Oh, he doesn't really like that."
Horses are so unpredictable. At least, that's what we're told.
Just maybe, though, it us who predict their behavior with our unpredictable projections. Maybe I should be too tired to project my thoughts around my horses more often!
Lori -- aka -- "SKODE"
www.skodeshorsetreats.com
"It's About a Lifestyle"
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