What I Learn From Horses, vol. 1

nyone who has spent much time around horses knows that they are very willing animals.

Extremely strong and generally weighing over a thousand pounds, horses don't really ever have to do anything we ask of them, including letting us ride on their backs. But they do.

Horses often even remain willing to do amazing things for people who treat them very badly.

From horses I have learned a great deal about being more willing. Willing to do things I don't want to do. Willing to do things for others - even those I don't really like. Willing to do things I might be afraid to do.

Over the years, as you spend more time with horses, you can begin to recognize when they are being willing - and doing something you want them to do - even though they don't want to.  The resigning sigh. Backwards turned ears. Maybe a little false nip as you walk by.

Ultimately, cultivating a deeper relationship, with a horse, with a friend, must connect willingness to trust. Trust that you won't make them do something they really don't want to do. Trust that it is ok to say "I'm afraid."

So willingness has a generosity, an awareness, that lies at the heart of unconditional love. For everything that horses have done for humans, this unconditional love is perhaps the most important gift of all.