Things have been really chaotic on all fronts this week, so this blog post may be a bit scattered. Things at work made me realize over again that not everyone is going to like me. Sometimes it’s not for any good reason. Just as I can clash with someone else’s personality, so they can clash with mine. At work sometimes there’s no avoiding someone who dislikes my personality. Instead we must figure out some way to exist in proximity to each other while causing the least amount of angst. Some days that’s difficult.
Things at the barn made me realize that horses have this same issue. If horses are kept in the same field together, they must find some way to live with each other that causes the least amount of angst possible. Horses are not humans, though, and may find different ways of solving this problem than we do. The mares don’t particularly like each other in the upper field at the barn. One kicked another hard enough to require a trip to the vet. Why they do this I still don’t understand. Maybe I never will. I do know it’s expensive and stressful when they solve their problems like this.
I never want to appear like I have things all figured out, or that I’m at the final destination of what I believe to be true about horses. Lately I’ve realized that I’m a bit stuck in understanding the threshold of frustration in a horse that is still ethical to push. What is tolerable and fair, versus damaging and unfair? I don’t quite know yet. I’m asking mentors for help and trying to work through it. I hope you’re working your way through things too, whether at a crawl or a giant leap. As long as we’re still wondering and listening and searching, I think it’ll turn out ok.
Maeve Birch Home 