But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. Jeremiah 7:24
When I was first married, I started riding horses to get over my no pet policy in our apartment. After a short bit of time, my instructor decided it would be a brilliant idea to teach me to barrel race. She had a horse that had never done it before and a student who never did either…oh my.
I admit that I had the best horse in the world and felt so comfortable on him. It’s funny how each person has a different connection with individual animals. He was very sensitive to leading and couldn’t wait to run. He’d respond to the slightest touch. He was awesome! That horse was also up for anything. How else would I respond other than, “I can’t wait!”
The barrels were all set up and I led him through the pattern several times. He was confident, but was I? There was so much for me to remember between my posture, hands, legs, and brain…all while picking up speed.
We started out beautifully if I do say so myself until we were coming out of the first barrel. I thought my perfect horse was going to go over backwards as he stood straight up, and I landed with a thud on the ground! What happened?
I did the right thing with the reigns as we were going around the barrel, but my brain malfunctioned and I forgot to loosen them once we were ready to run to the next barrel. It was completely my fault and the poor horse couldn’t quite figure out how I ended up on the ground when I was supposed to be on his back.
I learned an important lesson that day; besides the one that told me I don’t bounce. When you hold the reigns too tight, forward progress can’t be made and the chances of going backward are highly likely. There’s a good chance there will be a fall and someone could be seriously hurt.
During that learning experience, besides walking gingerly for a while, there was no lasting damage. We were able to fix the communication method immediately. My sweet gelding was very forgiving and it’s true about just getting back on the horse! When we tried again, it was with much more success. I learned when to give the horse his head and by doing so, he wanted to follow my lead.
Remember that there are always two involved in a relationship. When we’re too stubborn to listen or pay attention, we’ll go backward instead of forward in life. Don’t hold the reigns so tight that communication breaks down and pain takes over. Once that happens, a tumble is sure to come next.
