Molly's Makeover

Stormy

Molly

I decided to invest the money I received from selling Stormy, who has bad arthritis,  to getting some training for Molly;  the ex brood mare, toss Mark in the ditch horse.   It might be throwing money away, but I wanted to give her a decent shot at being a good horse. She is not very pretty, but I rode her quite a bit this summer and she has a delightful way of moving and an innate lightness.  A real joy to ride.  She does have a couple of hangups though.  One being herd bound.  For a while I had a very difficult time getting her to leave her friends, but she has improved a lot in this area and I know she can overcome this.  Her big hangup though is trailering.  I fed her in the trailer for a month this summer and she would enter and eat, but I never felt confident that I could load her and I was afraid of getting hurt, so I never attempted loading.  Molly had some bad experiences in the trailer before us and has a real phobia.  I am hoping the trainer can help her get over this.  We will see.  It took her (the trainer is an awesome young lady) an hour and half to load her today.  I was amazed at the trainer's calm and patience.  Poor Molly has met her match in stubbornness I think.    

Watching Molly fear today made me think  of my own hangups.  The things that I avoid because I get a cold sweat and my heart races.  Should I avoid them, or should I force my way through, like Molly had to do?  My hangups limit me, but sometimes I think it is OK to have acceptance and give myself  a little grace.  Or at least have a little tranquilizer to take.   I had to do that for a while for flying and going to the dentist.  Eventually I overcame both ridiculous fears.  Of course there are other fears that are realistic ones.  Fear is there to protect us from danger and  to dismiss it would be foolhardy.  It is just difficult sometimes sorting out between the two.