Facing Fears

Nov 04, 2009

“Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 1:21

As the Israelites had uncertainty about their future in a land they did not know, Moses encouraged them to have faith that God would take care of their needs. We all have fears in our life that we must face. Sometimes we try to run away from them or try to hide from them or ignore them. But sooner or later that bitter taste of fear comes rushing back. I think of all of the different experiences I would have missed if I had given in to the fear that tries to discourage me from being the person God wants me to be. Having faith in God and trusting in Him to see me through the scary parts in life as well as the joyous times, has allowed me to grow. Not only spiritually, but in all aspects of my life.

On top of Pryor Mountain

I can honestly say that I was afraid to drive across the country, up a horribly rugged mountain-side road, camp primitively up on a mountain with wild animals prowling around and that scary drive back down that rugged road.

Black bear on Pryor Mountain

So many things could have gone wrong in so many ways. Dwelling on those scary things is what keeps us from facing our fears and confidently moving past them. By asking God to help me face these fears head on, He becomes the One navigating the way and I get to enjoy the ride and the rewards at the end of the road.

Chino on Clouds Island, on top of Pryor Mountain

Just as we all have fears, especially of the unknown, Image and Ember have some fears of their own. They are facing a new home that they do not know. New sights and sounds that they have never experienced before.

A small poartion of Image and Embers new home

All of a sudden these 2 legged creatures are right there in their space, all of the time! Because we, as humans, have eyes on the front of our faces and not on the sides of our faces, tells them immediately that we are predators. And we actually smell like meat because we eat meat, just as horses smell like the grasses they eat. Horses’ eyes are on the sides of their faces so they can see all around them on both sides at the same time. They are prey animals: willing and quite able to flee at a moments notice if the threat of danger is there. Understanding that their fears are quite real, we have set out to help them face these fears in a way that is non-threatening to them. We have been gently letting them know that we are not going to hurt them or ask them to do anything that will put them in danger. We are asking them to trust us. The way to trust something or someone that you are unsure of is to communicate with them. By telling Image and Ember constantly that we are not a threat to them, has helped them come to realize that they do not have to be afraid of us. We have been communicating to them by starting to touch them ever so slightly on their mouth area while they are eating, and slowly working our way up their necks with touches that might mimic their mothers. Slowly moving along their spine to their hind quarters in movement meant to sooth not scare. Slowly working our way around their backs, never breaking contact, to their other side and working our way back up to their faces.  Because it has been so wet and rainy here in Ohio, the corral had become a muddy mess.  So we fenced off a section of the upper pasture that connects to the corral so the kids could graze and have more room to roam before their ground work in the round pen.

Ember grazing

We have left the corral gate open to them and kept their water inside so they would get used to going in and coming out of the corral on their own.  Ember has no trouble doing this at all.  Image continues to need encouragement to go in and come out of the corral.

Image grazing

He is still facing some fears he has of corrals.  I can only imagine what he must have gone through in the corrals at Britton Springs between the round up and the adoption.  Acting as his mother might, we have been coaxing him in and out of the corral.  A couple of days ago, we let our 28 year old Touchy in with the kids so they could all  get to know each other better.  Touchy had a rough start in life with abusive owners who never let her out of her stall in her first 4 years.  Terry rescued her from that horrible situation and they have been best buds for the past 24 years.  She has had some other trials in her life.  If you notice in the photos, she is missing her left eye.  Several years ago she had a fungus that was growing behind her eye and within 3 days she lost her site in that eye completely.  The vet gave us the choice of either taking her eye out or putting her down.  There really was no choice…….

Touchy and Ember getting to know each other

Terry watching to make sure everyone was getting along

We watched close by as Touchy started to check out the new kids.  At first Image and Ember were a little afraid, but Touchy showed no signs of dominance or aggression, just curiosity.  Ember, being the socialite that she is, made the first move to Touchy to make friends.  They spoke in a language that was beautiful to watch.  As soon as Touchy was satisfied with this new friend she had made, she turned her attention to Image. 

Image and Touchy

She ambled over to him and sniffed him all around.  Image, in his typical fashion, lifted his head, looked at her and promptly went back to eating!  He was clearly not caring too much about making friends with anyone who was NOT giving him food!  I had to chuckle while watching them.  Image and Ember are completely different in how they each approach new situations.  I am hopeful that once we start the ground work in the round pen, that Image and Ember will consider us good leaders worth following and that their fears will be put to rest.