He Got Stuck
So this happened in a session with a young client the other day. This boy has something he wants badly to do in the fall and so we set that as a goal and I invited him to build an obstacle course that gets to that goal, knowing that the things he needs to do to get there will be hard for him. He spent a wonderfully long time building this course with pool noodles and foam dice, poles and cones, while Al and Dancer watched intently. We spent a few minutes talking about what the obstacles are and then he worked on getting one of the horses through the course to the goal. He chose Dancer who followed him half way through the course and then stopped. Nothing the boy did got Dancer to move forward. He pushed, pulled and begged but Dancer stood firm. I asked him what he thought was going on for Dancer and he said that he got stuck. I asked “What did he get stuck on?” and the boy’s answer was indeed the biggest hurdle he faces in getting to his goal. As the boy and I talked about what he needed to do to get unstuck, Dancer continued to mirror the boy’s “stuckness.”
I love how the horses do this. I love how they know truths about us that we don’t yet know and reveal these to us with their actions. Dancer got stuck right where the client has been getting stuck and his unwillingness to move off that spot gave the client and I a chance to explore that place, physically and mentally. Now the boy has a kinesthetic reminder of what he needs to work on to meet his goal. Way to go, Dancer!
