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Mirror, Mirror in
the Stall
 Mirrors
- we've all had experiences when
those reflective pieces of glass
have shown us something about
ourselves that we hadn't noticed
before.
In one such case, you're going about
your day, when you suddenly glance
at your reflection in a mirror and
realize that you've been walking
around for hours with a smudge of
dirt on your face, or a mustard
stain on your shirt. No doubt others
already noticed this, but no one
felt comfortable pointing it out.
In another scenario, someone
comments about some aspect of your
appearance, but you can't just take
their word for it; you have to go
look in the mirror for yourself
before you will believe what they're
saying.
There is a phrase used among certain
"horse people" that says horses make
perfect mirrors for the humans who
work with them.
Being prey animals (those animals
which are hunted by predators),
horses are naturally wired to be
very in-tune with and sensitive to
everything that is happening around
them. Horses react very honestly to
things that make them feel
uncomfortable or unsafe. Watching a
horse's reaction to something we do
can be a lot like looking into a
mirror.
Some of our ranch kids come to us
with a history of social
difficulties. Relationships don't
come easy for them, and they can't
seem to understand why. They assume
they just aren't likeable, which
leaves them feeling pretty hopeless.
On her first visit to the ranch, one
little girl reached through the
fence numerous times to try to pet
one of the horses on the face. Each
time, the horse jerked away.
Finally, the little girl said, "This
horse just doesn't like me."
Without realizing it, the girl had
been reaching toward the horse's
face in an abrupt way that was
frightening the horse and causing it
to jerk its head away. Rather than
simply pointing that out to her, it
seemed better to let her try to
figure it out on her own. She was
asked to consider how, if she were a
horse, she would like someone to
approach her to touch her face. The
wheels turned, and soon she said,
"I'd want them to approach me slowly
and gently."
No sooner had she said this than she
slowly and gently reached through
the fence toward the horse that had
pulled away from her so many times
before. Only this time, the horse
didn't move away at all. The joy and
excitement in the little girl's face
said it all, but her words summed
things up perfectly - "It worked!!"
What a great lesson for that little
one to learn. The truth wasn't that
she was unlikable. The truth was
that she just needed to change her
approach a little bit in order to
get vastly different results. You
can bet she tucked that lesson away
in her mind!
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The
recent release of the second
Narnia movie, Prince
Caspian, prompted the
wonderful folks at
This
may have been Nancy's first
experience with doing an
equine makeover, but we're
sure you'll agree that the
results are amazing! Thanks,
Nancy!
