Impressive Or Inviting?

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in a book.
Ever been there? You read and read and read and pretty soon what you read becomes what you do.
Or you listen and trust a horseman. You see the results that person creates and you follow the steps to see if you can get there.
You leave one path and explore another. Sometimes that path isn't what it seems.... sometimes it is....

I recently had a similar encounter.
I got the book, The Horse Seeks Me by Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, for Valentine's Day. Beautiful book. The pictures are beautiful and I was very intrigued when I began to read it. Something stuck in my mind though. Well, actually two things.
1. Klaus works with all stallions in his book.
2. He makes things seem magical.

Those things aren't really that bad. In fact some might say they are good. But to the average, backyard horse owner, those things are not easily obtainable. I can testify to that.

I tried to do some of the exercised Klaus does in his book with Eddie. Neck rope, engaging the hindquarters, and using the whip as light as a fly. Let me tell you that the fly theory did not work. Sorry Klaus, but not with my Eddie... Flies are funny insects aren't they? Sometimes they can simply tickle you and other times they can send you hollering when they bite. Well, my little stick with a tiny piece of plastic on the end might as well have been a horsefly the size of a elephant. Eddie likes clearer directions, not a little tickle on the shoulder. I can put my hand on his firmly, yet friendly and he will follow my directions SO clearly.
Anyway, Klaus also makes things feel harder than they are in his book. Horsemanship is easy.
Listen to you horse.
End of story.
However, his techniques work for him and that's great. I wish him well on his journey, but his kind of horsemanship is not for our herd.

With that being said, the kind of horsemanship I keep coming back to can be seen in this painting I found on Google. A person with their horses enjoying time spent together.
It's relaxed.
It's easy.
It's clear.
And there's a calmness to it. Compare this picture with the one above. Which one would you rather be in?
One is impressive.
One is inviting.
I know that I would rather be in this one. And that is what Eddie and I are going to pursue.
Perfect harmony.

~Lea & Eddie~


Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.