Slowing Down Time

I love working with horses because it makes you slow down and take your time. I rush through the rest of my life, and then I stop and breathe, and wait, and listen, and watch, and think about it . . .when I get with my horse.

I wasn’t always that way. I used to try to hurry and get saddled up so I’d have time to ride. Now I don’t worry about whether I have time to ride or not. If I do, I do. If not, maybe I’ll just do a good job of grooming for a change, instead of that hurry-up-and-brush-the-part-where-the-saddle-goes. Or I might just turn him out and sit and watch him for a while — or clean out my junk box — or get the rasp out and rasp his feet. There’s always plenty of chores to do around a horse that take up a bit of time, and it's important to enjoy the time you spend around your horse doing other things as much as the time you spend riding.

If I’m going to ride –I don’t want to be pressed for time. I might get into a situation where I need to work through something with my horse and we can’t work through it if I’m in a hurry. Little things can become big problems just from folks being in a hurry. Like bridling. How many times have you seen someone trying to bridle a horse who puts his head way up in the air? That’s usually because the horse has been bridled by a lot of folks who’ve been in a hurry. I always act like I’ve got all day when I’m bridling a horse. If he’s an avoider, it may take quite a while, but if he’s convinced I’m going to be there all day to get it done, he’s much more likely to acquiesce sooner than later. If he thinks I’m going to give up pretty soon, he’s more likely to hang in there ‘cause he figures he’ll win. And I don’t ever worry about whether I’ll have time to ride, ‘cause I figure we’ll just do bridling today instead. And maybe that’s all we’ll do that day, but then I don’t have that problem with that horse anymore. It’s so worth the time. Plus, I have more than a feeling of accomplishment when we’re done, but also a feeling of satisfaction, and well being — all of which more often than not are missing from the hurried part of my life.