The Depths of Fear

The other day, it occurred to me just how deeply fear can affect a person. Even if that person is only nervous, it can really affect how they think, feel, and handle a situation. This especially inquires to horses. Which, honestly, its a very rational fear. They're a lot bigger than us humans, a lot stronger, and for many people, they seem unpredictable. Cart that in with what we are taught about fear-that it's more socially acceptable to be brave, and you have many people that over-ride their thresholds, possibly getting hurt, and you have a recipe for disaster.
What brought this thought about was seeing how a mother and daughter leasing the barn manager's green three year old handled the horse. There were a lot of 'Quit it!'s and 'Knock it offs' when the horse was doing nothing more than moving its head, or pawing, or shifting its weight. When the daughter got on the horse, as I was watching her ride around, it really occurred to me that she was afraid. Her position on the horse was tense all the way up to her shoulders, and while she released well, she was quick to grab the reins should anything unexpected happen. This was an odd combination-as the horse itself was very calm indeed with his head set low and in a relaxed position, no matter what the girl cued him to do. The mother was also very tense-her hawk eyes not leaving her daughter on the horse for a second.
When I later asked if they were having fun, I was met with a 'not really'-which to me meant a lot. Why ride horses if you're not enjoying it? It truly didn't make sense to me.
But it really was a good example of how fear can twist us if we don't address it and try to solve the problem. It can turn us violent, edgy, cranky, stiff, and make a supposedly fun practice not fun at all. This, I believe, is one of our society's many flaws-we are taught that we are not to be afraid. That its better to over-ride our fear and be brave. Wouldn't it be braver, and safer, to acknowledge the fact that we are afraid, and to do something about it so that the fear fades away? Fear is, after all, our brain telling us to get out of a dangerous situation. To survive. The more we ignore it, the more it will grow, and it will come out in other ways. For some people it'll just be avoiding the barn. For others, it'll be going, but punishing the horse every time he does something unexpected that brings up that fear in us. It can never have a positive result.
Licking and Chewing until next time-Jessi