Recharge

On Thursday there was a webinar on leadership at work. There was a section on resilience. The current belief now is that we need to recharge our batteries in order to be effective at our work (I use the term 'work' loosely here to mean whatever tasks we need to accomplish whether we are paid or not).

For me that is easy- it is the time I spend with my horses. I remember how lost I was when that disappeared- I didn't know what to do (http://journeywithadancinghorse.blogspot.ca/2015/01/finding-joy.html). And lately it's been the time I've been spending in the saddle. 

I mean I'm actually wondering who is this horse?  It's not that she's not noticing stuff - she misses nothing. But she's letting me decide what to do about it. A couple days ago I was riding and we could hear an ATV in the woods nearby. Carmen alerted me to the other side of the neighbour's field and we both saw the ATV going fast through the trees and over the hill. I could feel her tense under me. I put my inside leg on and asked her to bend around the corner. She immediately relaxed and went back to work. She trusted that it was nothing to worry about. 

Even her spooks are different. In that same ride she noticed something in the grass and spooked but in slow motion. It was hilarious we very slowly and carefully did a sidepass. I couldn't do anything but laugh. Now we can actually train and work on things. I can practice walk-trot-walk transitions all around the ring and not lose the task to excessive worrying and spooking. I finish every ride feeling happy and completely recharged. 

Today Ed and I picked up a round bale of hay. The horses were in the stall and I thought that Carmen would run off when we backed the truck into the aisle. Instead she stayed and watched- calm eyed and then reached out to sniff the truck. 

On friday Cynthia came out and brought our friend Libby. Libby and her family have been going through a horrible ordeal- her step-daughter developed a massive infection after giving birth. For days it wasn't clear if she was going to live. Somehow she survived but she's not out of the woods by any means and is facing amputations. It's scary and heartbreaking and exhausting. I cannot even imagine what the family is going through. Here's a link to the Go Fund Me if you want to know more.  Libby used to ride all the time and stopped a few years ago. She watched Cynthia and I ride and I invited her to get on Irish when Cynthia was done. She put on a helmet and hopped on. 

I watched Irish work his magic. He knows when a person needs him to be careful and he was so quiet and attentive. As they went around he gave her some of his peace and when they were done she looked much more content. He helped her recharge her batteries so that she could be there for her family. 

The time with the puppy helped as well. Guinness was quite taken with her.

I mean who couldn't feel better spending time with this sweetie? 

I wonder how people who don't have horses recharge? It's a total mystery.