Years 4 Fears

The Groupie and the Master.


I hate having my picture taken.

Oh, those pictures are even funnier than I remember. I tower over the master, I'm squinching down a bit, so we can both be in the photo, according to the photographer. (Mademoiselle Catherine Gillespie, Artist, and once in a lifetime commenter.)

"He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper." - Edmund Burke

Fear is our helper. It can certainly be our own worst antagonist. It's one of our deepest, least "controlled" emotions. It's waaay down there. One can stifle many types of emotions. Tamping them down is an art and a science:) It's called diplomacy. It's called self-control. (and a culture, right, Mr. Spock?)

There are many coping mechanisms for fear. We tense, we tremble, we run away. Scream. How many different ways can YoU mask fear? How do you express it? Of course, in our society of no dangers, except the battery running low on your cell phone, fear becomes self-induced. Or whatever. Caffeine induced, if that rocks your boat.

We as a society miss fear, so we make it up. Think about it, how much drama is enough? I'm still waiting, and I really would rather not see how much. Honestly. Reality TV is just so wrong, on so many levels:) It's encouraging people to do ridiculous things for "fame". Like the "kid in a weather balloon" story. Come ON!!

That isn't fame. That's "fey"me. Fake, fey, fame. We're just not feeling important enough, in ourselves. I've been meaning to blurt this out for a while. Okay, this does have something to do with fear, I promise. (blocks tangent.)

The trick is, you really can't mask fear, consistently. Fear is so primal, it's so "far down" in your brain, right beside your t'other base instincts. I almost typed "baser" instincts.

Basic instincts:)
Seek, Fear and Sex. The big three.

To fear. We have no dinosaurs to be afraid of, anymore. Most of our fears are self-inflicted. Fear is totally instinctual. It's there for a very good, if mostly outdated reason. To keep us alive.

We struggle with fears daily. The biggest fear is the fear for your own personal safety. With parents, it's their children's safety that terrifies them.

With re-riders, it's the fear of getting hurt. I've owned that fear too, dear readers.
It's a feeling that you can sometimes control, but you have to carefully train yourself to know when/where/what/why you are feeling the beginnings of fear. Often, fear is partner of anticipation/excitement, and it can be hard to distinguish which you are truly feeling.

And then, before it grabs hold, give yourself something to seek instead. Anticipate something, pleasantly. ANYthing. Instead of fearing that you'll not ride as well as you once did, look forward to the sensations you're experiencing right NOW.
The fear of being sneered at would abate, if less barn bitches walked this planet, but that's another story.

Horses are masters of sensing anticipation. As fearful flight animals, they are basically a running fool. It's the only way they know to flee, or they fight back, still WantinG to flee. Fear = Flee, to a horse. Period.

The traumas and pressures they suffer at the hands of the people who should never own horses, stays with them for life. For a horse, the Flee response will ALWAYS be remembered. It's just truly hard for us to "see" those triggers, as the horse sees/senses them.
Some specific sequence of events/sights/sounds/attitudes can suddenly panic a horse, for no discernable reason to the handler.

You could be using Vicks Vapo-rub, for a cough. A horse will remember the pain of it being used on the corners of his mouth, or worse. You never did it, but the horse remembers. What else does he have to do with his day, but remember his life?

People's Fears need dealt with a different way from a horse, of course;)

Sorry, Fern. It isn't nearly finished, but jeepers, great minds or WhaT??