Bob Rogers and Stephen's Blazin Star in the show ring at the April 24 show in Winchester. My friend Sheri Badgett and I had our pictures made with Clinton Anderson during his Walk about Tour in Lexington Kentucky in late Feb.
Bob and Blaze came in last in the Yearling Colt in hand class. In this picture Blaze is calm and looks like a champion. He has a very good conformation. His head is up and showing his nice neck. His ears are set in a nice direction and he is well behaved in this photo and looks like he is on his way to a blue.
So what happened to him on the way from this point to last place in a very nice class of yearling colts. What happened was he went from the thinking side of his brain to the reacting side of his brain. If you have ever heard Clinton Anderson talk about training horses, you know what it means to say "thinking side vs reacting side".
It occurred to me today as we were talking about a certain young lady we know who broke up with her boy friend this week. She was upset about it but she had come to the conclusion that he was not the right person for her to be seeing. He is older than she is but she seems much more mature than most girls her age. She has learned a lesson that will serve her well for the rest of her life. She has learned to use the thinking side of her brain.
Clinton Anderson says that horses being prey animals use the reacting side of their brains until they are taught to use the thinking side of their brains. He teaches people how to use and develop their training skills to teach a horse how to stop reacting so readily and start thinking. Of course a prey animal will react swiftly. I have learned that horses have the fastest reaction time of all domesticated animals. Bet you thought it was a cat. I did.
But if you think about it you will reach that conclusion even if you only know a little about horses. I have learned it several times over when my horse reacted more quickly than I realized she would. Usually I found myself eating dirt when I realized it. So I have become a student of Clinton Anderson's. I try to read his articles in different horse magazines and to watch his training DVD's to better understand how to teach my horses to think instead of reacting.
Let's tie that to our friend who broke up with her boyfriend. I met him. He was really cute. He was sweet and he seemed to like her a lot. This would appeal to many girls the age of my friend. But she was not reacting to his nice looks, good manners and fun loving attitude. She was listening to that inner voice that told her that this was the wrong person for her. She is wise and especially when you think of her age. She is a young teen. Yet she has developed a skill that takes some of us many years to learn to use and sadly some never learn. She has learned to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit to guide her.
What happened to Blaze on his way to the blue in the class was that he completely blew his image in the line up. As soon as a judge approached, Blaze started using the reacting side of his brain instead of the thinking side. The judges were strangers to him. His reacting side said "Run these are predators" He had also had some upset as the class was starting when another colt broke loose from his handler and started running loose in the arena. He was upset and thus Blaze started reacting to his upset as something he needed to be concerned about as well. From then on it was a battle of wills. Who would remain in the most control? Sometimes Blaze won and sometimes Bob won. They did get out of the arena with no major disaster but with last place.
How often do we come up in last place because we don't really know how to use the thinking side of our brains. The side that God makes available to his children. When we make a decision to give our lives over to Jesus it doesn't mean we are now perfect or we make all the right decisions. We can still make dreadful mistakes because we disobey God's will for our lives or that we make decisions that we don't consult him on.
We need to listen to him through reading his word found in the Bible and listening for God to speak to us through that word. It is only with practice that we find how it applies to our lives. It is only by listening that we learn his will for us.
When decisions are made following the will of God, it doesn't mean instant wealth or even wealth at all but treasures we lay up in Heaven where they are safely awaiting us. Perhaps you are snorting and thinking what a bunch of nonsense and how will that do me any good here. If that is what you are thinking, let me tell you this. We are here on this earth for such a short time. So what if you live to be a 100 or even 110. That is such a short time compared to eternity. Eternity has no measure of time for it. It is just that. Eternity. A long long time to suffer the pains of hell and the separation from God.
So what will it be. Are you going to use the thinking side of your brain or just continue to use the reacting side?
May God bless and keep you in his loving care. May his face shine on you and may he give you peace.
Regards
Mary
For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3: 16
No comments:
Post a Comment