Curiosity and Sensitivity
Rio is such a wonderfully curious horse. He is also a very sensitive horse, though he
doesn’t always look it from the perspective of the casual observer. It’s something you feel when you are with him
more than when you watch him. He’s so
solid in so many ways it’s easy to think he’s fine because he appears so on the
surface. It’s only when you take time to
feel what he’s feeling, to look into his eyes, that you know the depth of his
sensitivity.
I think this photo my friend Tanya of Redhawk Photography
took a few nights ago speaks volumes.
Tanya had decided to lie on the ground in the arena to take
full advantage of the views and Rio zeroed in on her immediately! He marched me right over there with what felt
like great curiosity and interest. It
wasn’t until I saw the photos that I realized he was expressing some concern,
you can see it in his eyes. He seemed
to need to know she was okay before we proceeded. It certainly wasn’t fear. He seemed to know
exactly what he was looking at. But
evidently, humans lying on the ground seemed to make him think something was
wrong. Once he determined that she was
alive and well he was happy to go back to doing what we were doing.
His exploration reminded me how important it is to listen to
and acknowledge our horses. They
perceive a much larger world than we do.
When I take the time to follow their lead, to notice what they notice, I
am always rewarded for that effort. It’s
easy to see it as disobedience, something to fight over because he’s offering
up something other than what I asked for.
In reality it’s not disobedience, but curiosity and sensitivity, and the
last thing I want to do is shut down his innate sensitivity and curiosity by
insisting that my interests are the only interests that matter.
Having Tanya come to do a formal photo shoot was good
practice for me. I want pictures of me
interacting with my horses that are representative of my philosophy. Despite the short window of time we had
before we lost the last of the daylight or it started to rain in earnest it was
important that I not compromise my ethics by forcing Rio to participate. If I had we never would have gotten this
wonderful shot that is so full of expression.
Thank you Tanya, Rio and David for a fun evening!
