Lessons from a mini donkey

I love sometimes to just spend time with my own two horses, Chase and Sassy. I typically take a lawn chair, a book and some water and we hang out. It's a nice way of recharging myself and get to spend time with them. I call it THE ART OF DOING NOTHING.

But sometimes, my horses and their little sidekick Lennard have their own agendas. You see, Lennard thinks I am his lady. He will wedge himself between the horses and myself, if you shoo him away, he is back 30seconds later and if I don't pay enough attention to him, he will pick up any kind of object, typically a little feed pan, and start whacking it against my legs!

One of the funniest things happened when I wanted some quiet reading time. Typically I will put the chair out and my horses mill around me, including Lennard. However, this time, all three came over, my horses sniffed me and then proceeded to head towards the back of the paddock leaving Lennard to keep me company. It was almost like coming over to be a babysitter so Mom and Dad could have some quiet time!

As I sat and read, or at least tried to, managing Lennard became quite the job. He nibbled on my book, tried to steal the water bottle, brought me the feed pan - you get the picture. After half an hour, I thought he had finally settled until I noticed him backing up towards me. I was quite curious. Typically a horse or donkey backing up is not something you would like to see and experience! But it felt different. He was very deliberate but gentle. So I decided to see where this was going. He kept coming closer and closer, backing up at a right angle to my legs one step at a time until he was right against me. And then.... wait.... he sat in my lap! His two little hindlegs totally off the ground. Talk about my jaw dropping! I ended up laughing because, well, you should have seen the look on his face when he looked back. He was SO PROUD of himself. Of course my laughing hysterically scared him and he jumped off my lap and ran off. But he was back doing the same just a minute later. This time he stayed a bit longer. It was really quite comical. And one of my favorite stories ever.

You see, if I had just acted on what I had been taught, I would have missed a great opportunity to see how smart Lennard really is. I am so glad I didn't listen to all those voices in my head but instead tuned into him, became aware of his intention and allowed a really cool thing to happen.

Awareness - it can change the way you experience life. And it can change the way you connect with your horses.