I have a story to share with you that supports my posts title statement. I went through a vast majority of my prior blog posts to make sure that I didn’t already tell you about it on this blog (I use to have another blog that I talked about more personal things on a long time ago.)
The current book I’m reading made me think about one of my favorite memories from my childhood. It is rather funny when I look back on it now. However, at the time it wasn’t so funny!!!!
Here’s the history behind the story…
1) The most important detail you need to know is my mom was an AVID horse lover!! HORSES WERE HER LIFE!!
2.) Since horses were her life, she wanted them to be equally as important to me as they were her. She wanted me to put horses ahead of everyone/everything.
3.) I was about five or six years old when this story took place. My mom had gotten me a Shetland pony that was more stubborn than any mule I’ve even seen in my life (and yes, I have ridden and seen my share of mules.)
So, imagine a little petite (I was a nice healthy weight until I had my first child) blond haired blue eyed little timid girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly if it landed on her. (Back then I was very loving and trusting and had the most easy going personality around. I got along with everyone with ease.)
This little pony was a nice chunky mare. I haven’t come across a mare that isn’t moody and stubborn to ride or deal with even if only on occasions. This particular day, this pony decided she didn’t want to leave the barn and go on our trails that we had behind our house. My mom got mad as fire at ME because I wasn’t making this pony mind me. My legs were little and barely reached the sides of this little pony. Again, I didn’t have a part of me that wanted to hurt a thing, let alone an animal that made up at least four of me.
Well…..My mom got the brilliant idea of using my classroom. (I wanted to be a teacher even that young to the point that my step-father at the time had made me a classroom complete with A HUGE chalkboard, desk, textbooks, chalk, a long pointer thing, and lots of other teaching materials.) So, I went from being the teacher in my classroom to the student. My mom used the chalkboard to express her distress in me in words.
When that didn’t work..she proceeded to have me straddle the desk. Yes, I was straddled on top of the desk. She handed me a whip and told me to kick and whip the desk and give it orders to follow. I lightly tapped the desk and lightly kicked the desk. My mom wouldn’t have that!! She stated that was never going to get any horse to listen to me or anything else for that matter. She told me to get mad. (Again, I was a happy go lucky person. My passion was climbing swing sets or trees and being in gymnastics class and being carefree and HAPPY.)
The more gentle I was the angrier she became. She got so mad she was seeing red or at least that’s how it appeared to me because her eyes were red, her face was red, and I do declare if steam was able to actually come out of a person’s ears they were hers that day. She literally picked up both of my legs and kicked that desk with my legs FOR ME!! I was scared out of my mind. I had never seen my mom like this before. In my mind, I couldn’t see why it was so important that I learn how to be this mean to an animal. She yelled at me to hit the desk with the whip and kick it with all of my might. So, my little legs kicked it as hard as I could and I whipped it as hard as I could.
My step-father at the time came in to my rescue about that point. He looked at my mom like she had lost her mind. He got me off the desk and away from my mom.
However, after that when I rode that stubborn bullheaded Shetland pony, my mom would always tell me to kick her like I did that desk. I never did fully conquer riding that pony because quite frankly I couldn’t stand that little pony.
BUT…..I did later on ride a horse that was stubborn and bullheaded and LOVED to buck people off his back just for the pure fun of it. It was almost like he’d get bored and had to “stir up a hornets nest.” I used my “desk kicking legs and arms” on him many times over, and believe me it came in handy.
I also used that mentally when it came to dealing with situations that required someone take charge of a situation and steer people in the direction that they need to go in. Sometimes it has required me taking a stand against some stubborn people in my lifetime. I’ve also had to realize that things aren’t always easy to deal with, but there is a time and place to use my “desk kicking legs and arms.”
My mom’s methods may have been unique and some may even say extreme. Even she said they were to extreme when she looked back on the situation at hand, but I learned some valuable lessons that day in my classroom. It wasn’t all about how to handle that Shetland pony.
