“I can load any horse into a trailer in 10 minutes.“
-said no horseperson ever
Author David Richo in his book “Triggers: How We Can Stop Reacting and Start Healing” points out the danger of electronics in relationships. Richo points out that our hearts and minds need time to process emotions and evolve into mature relationship and life lessons. Because the human heart doesn’t move as fast as thoughts and the internet, our reactivity can be the enemy of healing and relationship progress.
Horses help us learn this patience because trying to rush horses to trust us and learn can-and usually does--backfire miserably. For example, if we try to load a horse into a trailer in 10 minutes it could take all day. If we have hours to load, they could walk right in. Famous horseman Ray Hunt once said we need to give a horse the dignity to figure things out for themselves, and when we do, we will get more back than we could imagine.
So it is with life, leadership, and our own hearts. Timing is everything. Asking for something, then allowing space for life, receptivity and response can get us where we belong with far less agony and strife. And we may find ourselves in a better place than we could imagine. If anyone had told me 10 years ago that I would own a horse and be helping build leadership skills in a barn with executives around the world I would have laughed. Today there is no place I would rather be.
I invite you to try “dropping the rope” for a bit, in leadership and in life. Practice recognizing when to give time and space for what is meant to be to unfold. Give your heart, your life, and those you lead the dignity to respond in their own way. Listen to your heart, cultivate responsiveness to what is, and see what happens. If you do, I’d love to hear from you!
