As the sun was setting one Thursday night I got to witness one of my top 5 proudest session leader moments. It was one of those moments where all of my girls' hard work, stumbling, and learning came through in a beautiful way that showed God’s goodness. That night we were talking about boundaries and wanted to show our girls that the boundaries God gave us (ie the 10 commandments) have a purpose and are at heart good. To make that point we took away one of the boundaries between the girls and the horses, their bridle. Riding at liberty is very challenging and takes a lot of work and trust for the riders. I was working with two of our jr ranchers to ride Bronson at liberty and Bronson must’ve understood that the goal was to frustrate/challenge the girls because he was super difficult the second we took that bridle off. If I was them I would’ve cried and asked for the bridle back but my girls took the challenge in stride. One of the girls in particular has been in my group for a few years and when she started she was a very unconfident rider. When offered to get her bridle back she asked if she could keep trying to ride at liberty. My heart was so full at her request and so I taught her how to ride with a neck rope and how to keep him on course. When the next girl got on Bronson continued to be a challenge and she rode beautifully as I coached her through it. They both blew me away. Riding at liberty is very very difficult and it takes a lot of patience. The girls learned about the importance of God’s boundaries that night but I got to witness how great God is and watch these girls preserve and overcome. When they go out into the world, school, family, and face challenges I hope they remember the perseverance they showed with a horse and know that God is always walking right beside them.
-Written by Becca, Junior Rancher Session Leader
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