Quote for the week

You can ask your horse as many questions as you want, as long as you listen to the answers
~Robin Shen

This is one of the things that the DOR needs to continually work on. She asks me a question, doesn't wait or listen for the answer, and then she jumps onto the next question. She has a habit of rapid-fire questioning, boy does that drive us all a bit nuts. When she does this I just get all frazzled and emotional. Then she and I get caught up in a circle of fussiness and nothing goes right. In fact sometimes I just want to stomp or kick something really hard. Maybe that is what happened to the post in the picture, some frustrated horse kicked it. Better to kick a post that to hurt your DOR.
The DOR has been working on asking a question and then waiting the time it takes to get the answer. She has a song she has taken to humming to make sure that she gives me plenty of think time. It is working pretty well. She is now hearing what I have to say about my therapy and the things she asks me to do. By waiting for the answers to her questions we are making more progress. By listening to me I don't feel like I might want to kick a post.
This is also paying off in her riding. When she asks Sir Darby a question, she needs to give him time to think and answer. After all they are getting to know each other and the DOR does things a bit different from his past riders. The old guy is pretty smart and always knows the right answer if she listens.
Wouldn't it be nice if we all stopped to listen to the answer to our questions?
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!