Stupid Horse? You Be the Judge
With all the horse clinicians on the scene these days I don’t hear that phrase much anymore, but I used to. Every now and then it pops into my thoughts and this morning was one of those times. Sometimes I’m doing a task like cleaning stalls. Other times I am working with a horse-during which I am always impressed with how intelligent they are (especially the Arab). My thoughts usually end with me thinking that if the people who believed that just understood the horse (its fears especially), they wouldn’t think that way.
From my observation, they mostly base it on such events as when a horse runs into a fence and hurts itself during a flight of fear (this is self preservation), or when the horse is not doing what they want it to do (lack of communication). But a horse never puts itself in danger on purpose. Think about that for a moment. Also, in the right hands a well trained horse will learn to trust its rider (the leader) even in scary situations (this is wisdom).
Compare mankind. He knowingly and willing puts himself and others in danger by using life destroying, mind altering drugs and alcohol; drinking and driving; smoking, despite the warnings, even after disease has set in (sorry smokers, but it’s a fact); having sex outside the perimeters the Creator as set forth; fighting over territory that isn’t his in the first place (gang violence), etc. Most importantly we fail to trust our Leader, God - the One who has our best interest in mind. The list can go on.
So what am I trying to say? A horse- out of fear- may cause harm to itself by running into a barbed wire fence while running away from the thing that scared it or it may get nervous and upset when it doesn’t understand what is being asked of it, but it never, never, puts itself in danger on purpose. Mankind on the other hand does it all the time. Even when the facts are laid out and the warnings are set forth, they are disregarded in the name of fun, desire, or whatever. So tell me, who’s the stupid one?
For the record I’m not trying to say that mankind is stupid, though I wonder at the decisions we make sometimes. And it wasn’t my intention to preach. I just want us to think before we call a horse stupid. They truly are not.