It was tempting to just let Picasso hang out in the pasture an fatten up. He has been through a lot for his age and I thought about leaving him alone for while to grow and get to know the other horses. But there was a look in his eye that said differently. Picasso had been alone for a while. In a way, he had learned to survive by being invisible. I felt like he was wanting to get started in “school”; to start learning a new way of being; to start participating instead of hiding. He had come to me to start developing his potential so he could show the world he is more than a “small stunted horse”. And he has already gotten stronger in a couple of weeks and begun letting his personality surface more. Inside is a “spark plug” ready to fire.
Picasso has dealt with pressure in his life, mostly in the form of survival. As his life goes forward pressure will take on a new meaning. We all learn to “give” to pressure. What does that mean? We learn to move away from pressure, like if someone is on your right side and pushes your shoulder to the left, you move away and the opposite would be true if someone switched sides. And we learn to lean into pressure, like when you get a great big hug from someone you like. Horses teach each other this concept very quickly. In the picture of Picasso and Jaspar out in the pasture, it is clear from Jaspar’s face and body that Picasso needs to give to Jaspar’s pressure. Clearly, Picasso wishes Azure would give to some pressure as well. The notion of moving away from pressure or into pressure is something horses teach each other early on.
Communication involves a lead and a follow whether it is in conversation or action. As the interaction continues the roles may flow from one to the other in a seemingly seamless manner, but in order to overcome inertia, someone has to lead. Picasso had been in halters and lead ropes before I got him, but he didn’t truly know what it meant to follow a lead. He sometimes gets himself in trouble with the other horses because of this. Picasso follows to be with a leader whether the leader is horse or human. Sometimes he ends up running into his leaders from behind. The lead-follow relationship is hard to wrap your mind around sometimes to sort out what really needs to happen for connection to be there between the two.
For me, the distinction begins to get clearer when I put on a lead rope and halter on my horses. When I take Picasso to the pasture in his lead rope he “follows” behind me, but he is not taking and sort of specific leading information from me. We are traveling the same direction, but as two separate parts. Picasso knows how to do this well. What he doesn’t know how to do is follow a lead when the lead is not in front of him. Picasso and I learning to communicate as a lead and follow now with the use of the halter, lead rope, body positions, and energy. It is challenging for Picasso to follow directions from a distance. He wants to be right on top of his lead. Getting his directional ground work in place is important for moving onto what will later become the communication between a horse and rider. He is a very smart and willing partner to work with and makes our time spent developing our lead-follow relationship rewarding. As Picasso learns more about this lead-follow relationship, his self-confidence will develop along with his trust in people.
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