Cowboy Church

I have loaded these pictures, and written notes on this experience ... ummm, three, maybe four times now. Each time when I went back in to edit it ... just correcting my 's ... somehow it deletes.  The iPad doesn't like this new blogger format.  Or maybe my fingers are straying ... idk.  Gonna try again.  The guest speaker asked us, the audience, to see this story through the horses eyes, and quite frankly, I have resisted going there.  It's that I look behind, before and after, the story he wanted to tell.   The story he wants to tell is one of restoration ... and I see that.  But ... at the end of the evening  the horse went home with the person under whose care he became messed up in the first place.  So ... the horse had a little "therapy" session ... then he went home ... and I wonder if his owner was paying attention.  I'm getting ahead of the retelling of the story ... but, the horse looked longingly after the man who spent just a few minutes with him.  I saw him turn and look several times ... it made me very sad.

Well, let's tell the story.  I can't be the horse though.  I'm just going to tell some of what I saw.

The covered arena is the usually setting for Cowboy Church ... I was a first time visitor to services there, though I've spent a little time at events out there.  The guest speaker had his truck and trailer positioned about mid field and it served as a back drop to the story.  I think the guy on top was filming and he had a support person on the ground who played cowboy songs at his request during the working of the animal.

There were four local cowboys ... on their horses who helped out at the guy's instruction.  I'll call them cowboys for this story and the speaker will be "Guy".

Here's the horse ... "Horse" for this story ... he is a three year old ... stallion/colt ... kinda in between.  I thought he was a beautifully sound animal ... elegant strong fine lines and an intelligent companionable disposition.  He was comfortable with the bridle (no bit) and was willing to be lead.  He did seem a little flaky to me at first ... maybe the crowds distracted him or maybe he just lacks self discipline.  He seemed like a fine horse  ... I liked his looks, brown with darker points ... .  I like horses though I have limited experience with them.
We were given the back story on the horse ... he had a bad experience when he was first saddled.  I was unclear on what happened, but the short of it was he wound up with the saddle around his belly and he went berserko kicking it off.  He doesn't like to be touched ... very resistant to any contact on his legs or back ... won't accept a blanket ... never been ridden.  Beautiful, but pretty much useless as far as his owner is concerned.  She walked him in and handed the lead rope to Guy (who was in the saddle when Horse first saw him) ... he exchange the lead for a longer rope and he and his horse began telling the story ... a story of restoration.  This cowboy said it reminds him of how God wants to help us towards relationship ... towards expressing our proper place in the scheme of things.

Horse and Guy, mounted on his horse 

 Horse, lead by Guy, who was on his horse began slowly, just making wide circles outside the corral.  He varied the pace and you could see Horse adapting to met the requested speed.  He baulked a little at first, but came around within the first fifteen minutes or so.  Guy told us that the arena represented "the world" and the corral would represent "the classroom".  He also kept the challenges coming as he worked with the animal.  He said he didn't want horse to have time to just lala around in his indecision ... most of what I saw was choices being offered and the Horse choosing well ... sometimes through trial and error, but I was surprised at how agreeable he was over all.  In general, I think horses have good people sense ... he was warming up to Guy and beginning to trust his intentions .  Guy directed his horse to basically annoy Horse ... one stepping in to his space ... backing him up ... here he is nudging him around with his nose. from this side by side position, Guy began putting his hands on Horse, first caressing his mane ... talking nice to him ... eventually rubbing his back with his bare hand.  Horse went from shying away to moving in for the touch.  Guy said it has to be the horse's choice ... he has to want the contact, otherwise there will always be hesitation.  I felt that meeting Horse and beginning the work with him from the back of his horse was an important part of the process.  Horses are herd animals and I'm sure this was the kindest and quickest way to get acquainted.  That his own horse liked him probably wasn't lost on Horse.  I never felt that Guy was trying to teach the horse who was boss ... it seemed like he went to special pains to give Horse opportunities to choose relationship.  The other men remained on their horses the entire time ... and when they weren't specifically participating they remained well away.  I don't have enough experience with horses to know this, but I imagine a man on a horse would be seen quite differently to a horse then a man not on a horse.  Guy was the only man not on a horse during the training session ... it made it easy for Horse to focus on him and his wishes I believe.

Here we are ... closed corral with Horse lungeing about.  He was scared I think.  Guy walked him inside the corral on the long lead rope and worked back and forth with the animal building trust.  At first he just let him run around in circles.  He said it wasn't hurting anything, and was wearing the horse out ... where he could be more in a frame of mind to listen.   Eventually he told the horse to STOP ... and it just did.  Horse stopped in his tracks and lowered his head briefly towards the man as if to say ... okay.  Seems like Guy then drew the slack out of the rope, and the horse took off again ... this went on for a short while leading up to Guy touching Horse very casually with a rag on the end of a flexible rod.  Horse would shy away and Guy would stop then horse would move back in nd Guy would touch him again ... Horse was fine with being touched around the head and mane ... less so on his back ... much less so on his tummy and legs.  Eventually he stopped being bothered by that.  So Guy worked the touch thing and the resistance to closeness between the man and the horse at the same time.  Pretty soon the horse was letting him touch him with the rag in his hands then with just his hands.  When the horse had settled in to walking close and stopping and moving about on request, the man walked across the corral and dropped two of the panels.

He went back to the animal and petted him some ... then walked back over to where he had his tack hanging on the fence.  The horse casually moseyed over to the opening ... swinging his head back towards the man, who asked him to remain inside.  "Come back to me" he said, but ... Horse stepped out ... back in to the world.

The cowboys were called in to offer assistance.  The warned the horse back in to the corral with their flags.  At one point a cowboy leaned over towards Horse and Guy instructed him not to, saying reaching towards him would only make him react by pulling farther away ... he wanted to direct the horses choices, but leave him feeling like he was making a choice.  Maybe I noticed that as such a strong theme because choice is such a big deal to me.  I do realize that choices are not unlimited, also that choices tend to funnel the range of choices in to particular subsets ... here I saw trust ... faith ... being restored.  The horse was never asked to compromise his dignity, in fact he clearly felt stronger and more confident as the evening wore on.  He started moving towards an excellent version of what/who he might be.  Guy worked at it by lassoing him around the hind quarters ... then just around the tummy (he had Horse step in to the rope and gradually cinched it up ... at some points the rope was around a hoof only and Guy steered the horse saying "give me your leg".  You could see the tiny steps layering up to Horse accepting this particular rider.  He didn't develop trust ... he had a reserve of trust which he felt safe to let Guy direct.  He placed his trust or faith in the goodness of Guy's intentions.  This wasn't a "headstrong" animal ... he was an animal who had learned to protect himself from pain and confusion.  Guy peeled back the layers revealing the animal to himself.
I think he is bareback in this photo ... eventually he made his way back in to the corral where he accepted first the blanket ... rubbed on him like the rag had been earlier, 'til Guy asked him to carry it for him ... and the horse said ... okay.  In pretty short order after that Horse was sporting the saddle.  He did take off out of the corral when the saddle was first secured ... a cowboy on a horse blocked him up as Guy put the saddle on and fastened it loosely ... soon as Horse could he moved away and started trying to buck the saddle off ... when that didn't work he bolted back outside the corral and ran circles, driven by fear ... bad experiences ... and confusion.  Guy asked the cowboys to run with him ... one out front who was soon setting the pace and slowing things down.  Redirecting.  Once they were walking Guy had the cowboys raise their flags to move Horse back to with in the corral ... time to tighten up the saddle and before long Guy was stepping up for a ride.  Horse didn't baulk at that at all, though I did notice Guy put his gloves on before he tried to saddle up.

They rode with the rest of the horses and riders ... all different gaits.  It seemed like to me that Horse felt good about being part of the group ... like he was in his element ... it all just clicked for him.  Here we are at the point in the evening where Guy dismounts and asks the cowboys to move away.  He had Horse step in to a rope and he pulled his hoof up, hobbling him and asking him to lay down.  Horse was somewhat resistant to the idea, but after maybe three attempts he just laid down ... his sides were rising and falling rapidly ... maybe from exertion, maybe from fear ... fear I think.  once or twice he rolled to his knees and looked towards Guy who said lay down buddy.

You could see when he relaxed.

Guy said this was extremely difficult for the animal and he asked the audience not to clap ... he said the horse sold out to him here and he asked everyone listening if we could sell out to God like that.

Then he went and laid down with Horse ... and praised him for working so hard and being such a fine horse.

Here he is encouraging him back up ... .

So ... a beautiful, but frightened to useless animal came in to the arena and ... gradually his trust and confidence was restored to a place where he happily carried this man ... and chose to submit to his every request.  Guy said Horse has it in him to be an excellent horse ... he will need to be handled well, but he is on his way to a useful and rewarding horse life.
Here's the sad part to me ... Guy presented the horse back to his owner.  I don't know how she felt about any of what she saw ... I don't know if she was taking notes ... I don't know anything about her at all.  What I do know is that the horse leaned towards Guy and as Guy walked away the horse strained towards him.  The owner pulled the horse out of the arena and several times Horse pulled his head back around looking for Guy.  The horse went home with the same person who helped him in to a confused ... hurt ... hurting state.
I know we came out to see a horse being saddle broke ... it's not broken, it's looking towards fixed.  This pony's destiny never was going to be to run wild ... he's a working horse or maybe a pleasure horse, but he earns his keep at his owner's discretion.  I like the idea of seeing the wild herds that roam the NW, and I like to see horses working with men ... and I like to ride horses when I get the chance to do so.  I'm saying, I know it's not all fun and games for a horse, and his life is enriched by his contributions I think.  I know my dog is happier with his life with us then he would be out in a wild dog pack ... horses may be a bit like that too.   But the way this ended ... the night ... there didn't seem to be any promise of better prospects for Horse.  No one asked the owner if she would step up to her part in the relationship.  It was sad, in a way, to see who/how the horse might be if his circumstances were different.  I think he is too much horse for the owner.   Guy asked her if she was going to ride him ... she declined saying she wasn't sure she would ever try to ride him ... and that seems to me to be a waste.  Now the horse knows ... and he has demonstrated to himself and the owner that he has what it takes ... and ... he swings his head back towards a worthy partner.  At very least the horse knows and that's got to be a relief for him.


I'd have a hard time walking away from a horse like that ... it bothers me that he and his circumstances were used to tell a story.  Cause ... we all filed out ... off to dinner ... .  But the horse is going to have to make sense of his story ... and it might not be one of restoration for him ... for him it may be a tiny taste of something that leaves him hungry for more.  Maybe I am being too sensitive here.  I do firmly believe the horse is better off now then he was.  And ... I know Guy can't load up every horse he "whispers" with.

Just saying there's a lot more to the story then what happened in those two and a half hours and ... I'm hoping things continue to go well for the horse.