I never new how uneducated I was until I talk with an 8 year old

Things I learn while teaching horseback lessons:

1. People never kill animals to eat. The pork, chicken, lamb, beef, and fish we eat are from sick and animals that have already died due to old age. And, animals don't die when a human takes meat from an animal(I auidably mumbeled 'shut-up' to myself when the 5 and 8 year old told me this)

2. I am a 'totally wierd dummy' for not eating meat.

3. "What do you mean you'd never eat sloppy joe's or ribs? That's not meat."

4. You can tell a horses' sex by merely observing it's 'veins'. When I probed deeper into this I didn't get any soild reasoning.

5. Pink pelicans are native to North Carolina

6. An 8 year old can't sing enough verses of 'Barbie Girl by Aqua'and especially likes the refrain "you can undress me anywhere' or 'Alcohol by Brad Paisley'

7. A pony, who shall remain nameless but rhymes with Owe-Me, can get sick of a young childs antics and choose to take it out on the horseback instructor. (I presume the pony got sick of 'Barbie Girl' sung off key)

8. Horseback instuctor who doesn't take junk from a 400lb pony gives him the ride of his life after the lesson.

All that being said....lessons are so much fun because:

1. I get to be a naturalist....identifying poision ivy, swallow tail butterflies, grasses and trees and of course correctly identifying the sound of the rare pink pelican.

2. Introduce kids to REAl wildlife. Check out that black rat snake, be quite now I hear a herd of deer, can you hear the woodpecker?

3. Educate kids and adults that although animals are different from us in lots of ways they are really a lot like us. They feel pain and suffer, are distressed when away from their family, enjoy love and encouragement, form stong trusting bonds with the people in their lives, they play -A LOT, they subtlely test you, an animal can know you in a way no other human can. An beause they are so sepctacular it's our job to care, protect, discipline, and love like crazy these animals that have been placed in our care.

4. Share the joy of riding. Feel the wind in your face, the galloping hoofs under saddle, and enjoy ONENESS with another living creature in beautiful symetery.

5. What I LOVE most about teaching is listening...Listening to the kids tell me about what is important to them, listening to their fears, joys, plans,their likes and dislikes without judgement. Listening to the world around me, the wind in the grass, creek bubbleing, horsehooves on a well beaten path. Listening to the horse. What he tells me with his ears and body position, and the feeling of contentment when he puts his head between my shoulder blades while I lead the way through the wooded trail. Knowing that his trust of me is total. He trusts me so much dosen't even look where he's going, the ultimate joy is hearing him breath deeply like out off all the people in the world he would rather be with me right here. I'd never to anything to break that trust. Just like our Father never breaks our trust.

My prayer is that I rest on the ONE who leads my life. So much so that I don't need to find my own way, trusting completely and able to enjoy the RIDE.