Horses are flight animals. They are not going to wait around to investigate what makes them fearful, horses just spin and run. That is how they have survived. Today while riding Meg came to the edge of the pasture and froze. Her eyes got big, ears were raised and I could feel her tensing. Within a split second she spun and raced off the other direction. I did not spin as quickly and her unexpected turn caused me to have a slow motion moment. My body was out of control and as she spun I pulled back on the reins and prayed out loud, “Lord help me.” I slipped from the saddle and hit the ground. Landing on my padded backside I was so thankful to not be hurt. Meg stopped running and looked back at me. After dusting my self off I went to retrieve her. We went back to investigate what had caused her fear. A stick was in the path so I assumed maybe she thought it was a snake. I picked it up and threw it across the fence. We walked around for a few minutes and then I heard it. It was a four-wheeler. Horses have hearing that is eight times stronger than humans. She had heard the motor from the four-wheeler and that was what had caused her fear. Before Meg came to us her former owners used to chase her with four-wheelers until she was tired and that is how they disciplined her to get her to do what they wanted. She had a true fear of something that most of us just take for granted.
As I have pondered Meg’s actions it has reminded me of the many people we come across each day that have been wounded by things that I take for granted. Their immediate response to hearing, smelling or seeing their fear is to spin and run. Their irrational response to something that seems benign seems irrational to us, but their experience tells them to run from that which has hurt them. My response to Meg was to calm her down and to give her another chance. This is great advice for those of us deal with wounded souls. Try to understand what is behind their fears, and if this person is someone in your daily life, take the time to hear their story.