Category: horse riding

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Hovering Horse

katietkennedy

How God’s protection for us mimics that of a mare watching over her foul.

We had the opportunity to stay at a dude ranch in Montana. The ranch owned over one hundred horses. They had seven new fouls among the herd.

They begin training the fouls when they are very young to be comfortable around people. They separate each mommy and baby pair to work with the fouls individually. They halter the momma, and the foul scampers behind. It’s adorable to watch.

I snapped this picture one morning as I finished up breakfast. I observed the mare leaning over her young in a protective alert stance.

The foul was finishing a mid-morning nap. His mom never moved while he slumbered.

This reminds me of our faith journey. We are like that foul. Even if we have been in the Christian world for a long time, we still have so much to learn. God works with us a little at a time, teaching us more about Him.

Observing the mare watching over her foul reminded me of how God stands protectively over us. He watches out for us, keeps us from danger, feeds us, and cares for us. While the foul napped, her mom lovingly stood by to ensure its safety, just like God watching over us while we sleep.

Psalm 121:3 reminds us of His power and protection. “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”

God watches over us when we rest, work, play, etc. No matter what we are doing, He has a watchful eye on us. What a wonderful God we have.

horse riding, horses

Skip the Jump

katietkennedy

My oldest daughter is passionate about riding horses which means we spend hours at the barn each week.

One Saturday morning we attended a horse show. We watched as a girl was jumping a line of two jumps. The horse jumped over the first crossbars and then refused the second jump. The girl circled the horse to redo the jump. Her trainer yelled for her to skip the first jump and go straight to the second one.

The girl nodded as if she heard the direction. She completed her circle and steered the horse over the first jump. The horse yet again shied away from the second jump. The horse and rider circled again, the trainer yelled the same thing, “just jump the second jump.”

The girl headed towards the jump and jumped over both jumps this time. I was glad to see she had gotten the horse to jump over both jumps, yet she hadn’t taken the trainer’s advice. Both times she nodded her head as if she comprehended what the trainer said. Both times she ignored the advice of the trainer.

This reminds me of our faith journey. Have there been times in your life when God tells you to skip the jump? You hear Him. You understand what He is saying, yet you can’t resist the temptation to go over the jump.

Why do we do this? Why do we ignore the advice of our wise and loving God? He has our best interests at heart, yet sometimes we think we know best.

Just like the trainer and rider didn’t seem to be on the same page that day, we often can miss the playbook God has written. We make up our own course and ride it out. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

God is like that trainer, showing us the correct path to take, yet forgiving us when we go astray. He molds us and grows us with each mess up we make.