The Bible, The Barn, & The Horses

When Stepping Back Frightens the Horse:

Lessons from Scarlett, the Barn, and the God Who Stays

It has been nearly two months since we brought Scarlett and Waimea to our small farm.  It has been one week since the feeding frenzy fiasco. I was up for the next challenge.  Or so I thought.  Yesterday, I took Scarlett, my older mare, into the barn for her first time on the cross ties. She’s usually calm and even-tempered, the kind of horse who quietly reads the energy in the air and mirrors it back.  I thought this would be a simple training moment.  I slipped the cross ties onto her halter, gave her a reassuring pat, and then I took a few steps back to let her settle.  

But that small step back changed everything….

As the distance between us grew, I see fear flash across her muscular body and at 17 hands, that can be an intimidating sight. Her muscles tightened.  She leaned back against the ties in an effort to break free.  In an instant, she pulled back hard —enough so that she snapped her halter and twisted the cross ties around her neck.  My calm, steady mare was trapped and scared.  

I stepped in, slow and steady, talking softly, heart pounding.  She didn’t bolt or thrash; she just waited — confused, breathing fast, eyes wide, ears back.  I unclipped the ties, one side, then the other, and she exhaled as if she’d been holding her breath for years…(me too).  Now I still had to get her to trust me enough to take her broken halter off.  I stood close, hands on her neck and she relaxed.  It wasn’t the cross ties that scared her — it was the space between us.  She felt abandoned. 

The Space Between

As I replayed the scene later (perhaps over and over as I prefer to not die that way), I realized how much that moment mirrors our relationship with God.  Sometimes, when we feel distance —when He seems to step back — it’s easy to panic.  I know I have experienced this.  We start pulling against the ties of trust, trying to free ourselves from what feels like confinement.  But often, He never left us. He’s simply giving us room to learn calm in the quiet.  

Scarlett felt abandoned when I left her side — even though I was a mere few feet away.  Still watching.  Still ready to help the second she needed me.  And how often does God do the same?  Standing nearby, waiting for us to remember His presence before we tear ourselves loose in fear.  

What Scarlett Taught Me

Training a horse isn’t just about reins and ropes.  It’s not a one size fits all with a guidebook that could possibly cover all the scenarios.  I could have never predicted the predicament Scarlett and I would find ourselves in even as I prepared for the moment over and over in my head.  Part of this was my naivety.  Part of this was her uncertainty in my intent.  Training a horse is about relationship. The next time, I will stay close.  We will move slowly through the process until I have earned her trust.  And maybe that is what faith looks like too: learning, possibly through fear, that the One who leads us never really walks away.  

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” —Psalm 145:18