Horse and Rider

I used to be a good horseback rider.  In fact, one summer I was Head Wrangler at a camp in Colorado.  My nickname was ‘Boots’.  I managed a stable of thirty horses and gave riding lessons to all the campers. However, when that summer ended my riding days were pretty much over.  My boyhood dreams of becoming a cowboy had faded and instead I became a medical student.  A few years later, I discovered that from my riding I remained saddled with some important lessons about life.

I was a young Psychiatry Resident, seeing a patient who kept telling me about his “unbridled rage.”  He told me that he had to keep a “tight rein” on his anger, or he would lose control.  I began talking to my patient about how people live their lives like a horse and rider.  They can go through life always riding with a tight rein and a heavy hand, never loosening their grip, never allowing the animal to run.  Or they can ride with a loose and floppy rein, letting the animal run uncontrolled.  Or they can know and respect the animal, riding with a gentle but firm hand on the reins, always in control, but working together, rider and horse as one unit.

Unfortunately, my patient didn’t run with my impromptu metaphor.  I had tried to ‘stirrup’ some thoughts but fell short in my effort.  He continued with his litany of ‘whoas’.  Fortunately, over the years my delivery and timing improved and I continued to share with other patients my metaphorical musings.

In the metaphor, the animal represents our nature, our drives, our needs and our desires.  As do we, horses come with a variety of temperaments and predispositions.  Some horses are restless and high-spirited.  Some are placid.  Some learn easily.  Some are hard to teach.  Some are gentle.  Some are quick to temper.  Some are born to race. Some are born to pull the plow.  Some are thoroughbreds and some are nags.

Ultimately, it is the rider who is responsible for the quality of the ride. The rider must learn to ride with proper technique and with good balance.  The rider must look out for the well-being of the horse.  The rider must recognize the terrain and know where to lead.  The rider must evaluate when to proceed with caution, and when it is safe to gallop.

I’d love to take credit for this metaphor of horse and rider, but Freud beat me to it by about 100 years. And if you substitute ‘charioteer’ for ‘rider’, Plato beat us both to it by 2000 years.  I may not have been the first one to think up this metaphor, but I'll bet Freud and Plato were never Head Wranglers.  And original or not, I have found it to be a personally and professionally useful metaphor.

So, what’s the ‘mane’ point of my ‘tail’?  Perhaps this.  When possible, when the terrain allows, lead life not with a heavy hand but with a firm and gentle rein.  Trust and surrender some to needs and wants, never out of control, but respectful that the horse on occasion would like to run.