The Long Lines of Life...

Guest Blog post by fellow Horse Chick and friend, Rachel Loscomb, a woman who loves God and horses too. It is with great esteem I welcome her to the ranch to share how God works in her life through her horse Ahmbi. 

     One of the greatest ways that I've found to exercise my mare is by long lining.  This seemingly observable "easy" technique can quickly turn into a tangled ball of rope and horse if you aren't paying attention! The long lines serve as extendable reins, a direct connection of my hands. When my mare and I first started this journey, I had no idea the implications it would have on both of us. 
     Now Ahmbi has the type of personality where she is never overly excited to work and tries every trick in the book to find a short cut to the exercise she is asked to do.  The classic "mare face" is unleashed when the time comes to work! However, once she understands the task I'm asking of her she gives it her whole heart.
     Often at times when I'm working with her I often think of the situations that I've tried to find life's short cuts or faster ways around what was happening in my life.  Ducking, weaving, evading-all common themes I saw in my mare at first that I've found my own self perfecting for most if my life. Why work harder when you can evade? Run away? As the months have gone on, I've noticed that as I learn to convey the right amount of pressure paired with releasing at the right time, Ahmbi's learned that her evasion techniques can't work in our partnership. Now, this doesn't mean she doesn't try and I have to always be that one...or two steps ahead of her!
     This is how we often approach our lives with God.  We duck, dodge, weave around His plans in hopes that He didn't see that latest defensive tactic because it makes us feel uncomfortable or it doesn't jive with what we hoped our lives would look like.  Sometimes we get in a pattern of living like this that we instinctively hit the repeat button and try it again...over and over again.  But just as I have learned to be patient with Ahmbi to teach her, I realize that we are both teaching one another! Stability, trust, genuine love...all core components of a working team! The long lines serve as an overreaching extension of the trust and respect we share, which can be a positive or negative experience depending on the hands holding the reins!
     God wants us to approach with a willing attitude and not one of resistance and contempt.  Most of the time this is easier said than done and it's something that I constantly fight with.  A futile fight that God ends up winning. Every time. 
     I've learned over the last few years that you don't train a horse, you don't break a horse.  You come into partnership with your horse, you teach one another, you allow one another to enter each other's lives.  Ahmbi is an incredible teacher and I am truly blessed each day to have such an incredible gift from God.  She's showed me how to love, play, and trust.  Most importantly, to be in the present, showing me the person God has always intended me to be.