Reflections With The Herd - A Lesson in Self Leadership

Yesterday was farrier day in my household and this big guy that I've got pictured is Cooper. He has been limping for the last week or so and I've been very worried. You see, he is a horse who suffers from chronic laminitis. I've got him permanently in hard bar shoes to help support his feet and make him more comfortable. But he is aging. And I have been very worried about him.

Cooper is a really stoic guy, and doesn't typically show it when he's in a lot of pain.  He also has some other medical conditions for which he takes daily medication. So this past week my thoughts have been swirling around his health and how much longer he may be with us. Is this it? Is this the time that I have to make the decision to as to whether he needs to end his time with us?

What am I going to do? I would be devastated.

So as I try to stay calm and bring all the horses up for the farrier all of these thoughts were swirling in my head.

So I told my farrier about some of the challenges that Cooper's had this week and asked him to take a close look at his front feet in particular because that seemed to be the problem. So he pulled his shoes off and he says oh, well, this is probably the problem. He's got an abscess.

I can't tell you the relief that I felt when we found that abscess. Now that's not something to be super excited about, but it's much better than the alternative.

And Cooper just turned around and looked at me and kind of gave me a nod as if to say, "see, I'm not ready to go yet."

So this is where the thoughts around self-leadership come into play. I am by nature someone who feels things very deeply. My horses are very important to me and I take their health and well-being personally.

But sometimes things happen. Horses age, they step on rocks. They step in holes and twist their foot.

But my thoughts around their well-being can get carried away and lead me down a path of thought that brings anxiety and distress. Unnecessarily I might add. And the shoulda, coulda, woulda's that result and the self judgement around not watching them more carefully, can spiral out of control.

Anticipatory grief. I was already anticipating being sad and heartbroken at potentially losing one of my horse partners before I actually knew what was going on.

So how do we take control of our thoughts?

Self-awareness is probably the first step in self leadership.

Recognizing when our thoughts are running away with us. When we're blowing things out of proportion. When we're allowing what could be, overtake what actually is.

Being fully present to what is actually happening instead of what we fear.

And as I watch him run and buck down the field this morning, I shake my head at myself at allowing my thoughts and emotions to run out of control.

Self leadership. Being present, being aware of what is.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be aware that decisions may need to be made. Certainly, we need to make plans. We need to entertain some of those thoughts. But we don't need to let them spiral out of control. 

What a lesson I've learned from Cooper today. Taking things in stride, acknowledging the discomfort but not letting it spiral out of control, and then get back to our natural state of being.  For him, back to grazing or bucking down the field with the herd.  For me....

​Hmmm, that feels like another blog post.  What is our natural state of being?
​
Would you like to read my blogs on a regular basis? Please join my email list so you don't miss out on the discussions.
​
 

Join My Email List