Horse Whisperer Diary -- week #5

Here we are again in almost the same place that we left off last week. As you will see in the slideshow, Luke still doesn’t trust me. I still have to touch him first on the foot with the bamboo stick and work up the stick until I can touch him with my hand. If anyone would have told me a few months ago that I could spent this much time with a horse and not be any farther along than I am with Luke, I would not have believed it. It is humbling to have to admit that I have a lot to learn about how to gentle wild horses. But I do believe he is teaching me things about myself that I would not have been able to learn with any other horse. I guess that he is God’s way of getting through to me.

Luke is progressing a little, even though he is living right on the edge of exploding at any minute. I have roped him and rubbed him a lot and turned him loose and have to rope him again every time. He will yield a little and has let me lead him by the feet, but even after having the rope all around his head he will still not let me touch his head. When I am able to get to his face, and to the whorl and begin rubbing in the same direction that the hair lays, until the spot that I start at is as big as a horse, then the training will accelerate.

On Friday, I was using a big cotton rope to try to get Luke used to being touched on the head and face and got the rope with a half hitch behind the loop around his neck. It got too tight to remove with a stick and hook so I had to take him up to our local fairgrounds and put him in the bucking chute to get it off. So while I was there I went ahead and put a halter on him. This does not mean that he accepted it. He only tolerated it and even though I rubbed him as much as I could, until he accepts me as his leader he will still not truly enjoy being touched.

This whole project is not just about gentling this horse. It is about learning to communicate with God by demonstrating His love first to the horse and then to people who will be affected by our story. I am reading a book by Ed Cole called Winners are not those who never fail but those who NEVER QUIT. I recommend it to everyone. I am determined to continue to do only those things that the novice horseman could do without special tools or talents, if they will be consistent in always trying to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This starts with the way you relate to your horse. Then with every other relationship in your life including your wife and kids, your boss or employees, friends and everyone else in your life. If you will first ask what would Jesus do or say in any situation, and then you do the same. If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you could have by simply asking Him to come into your life and forgive you of all your sin. He is ready willing and able to give you peace and understanding and show you why He created you and what your purpose is in this life.

If I can be any help to you in any way, please feel free to contact me. See you next week.