Comet, a two year old quarter horse, can quickly put a smile on your face. His personality and antics often contribute to laughter, and good stories to share. Look into his eyes and you’ll find innocence, goodness and curiosity, and you can almost see the wheels turning in his mind.
Each morning he gets a bucket of grain placed in a large round rubber bowl. Up until a few weeks ago he quietly ate from the bowl without any fuss. Then things started to change.
I noticed a funny trail in the dirt one day and realized that as he was eating he’d begun to slide his bowl along the ground. It wasn’t just a couple feet one direction or another; it was a good 30 feet! Each time he ate out of this bowl the direction he moved was completely different.
After a while, I noticed he had stopped sliding it around and had begun putting his front feet into the bowl and pawing at it until if flipped over. You can imagine what happened next, all his food ended up underneath the bowl and out of his reach. Once he realized what happened he'd paw at the bowl with a bit of frustration trying to get it to flip back over. Rather than flipping it back over he seemed to just slide it and push it around, still upside down, with the food still out of his reach. I'd then have to go lift the bowl up and remove it so he could eat.
The first couple of times it was funny and made me laugh. I eventually tired of all of his food ending up in the dirt and scattered all over and he graduated to a bucket that hangs on the fence that couldn't be tipped over.
This scenario reminds me of how we often have everything we need right in front of us (the food in the food bowl), yet don’t recognize it for what it is. Sometimes it doesn't look like we think it should so we continue looking and longing for something that is right before us. (Comet looking for his food that is simply under the bowl.) Frustrated we put our foot in our food bowl, paw at it, move it around or flip it over trying to make it look like we think it should. We completely lose sight of it and become frustrated.
Where might you be putting your feet in your food bowl, scattering it about, turning it upside down and denying yourself access to what it contains?
What have you become frustrated with that may simply need a new container?
This is a scenario we often hear from people who desire become an equine assisted coach. The passion is there, the desire burns inside (the food in the food bowl), but they can't see how. Maybe it's lack of knowledge, perhaps they don't have horses of their own, currently don't have a business, or sometimes they feel trapped in a job or other situation and can't see how. These are all examples of the bowl tipped over and hiding the food. Sometimes all that's needed is a new perspective and someone to help you uncover what you're looking for. If that's you, send us an email or message. Together we can fill your bowl and bring your passion for helping others and equine assisted coaching to life!