Learning courage

 

It' s no big secret that Logan does hippotherapy every Monday.  We go to the awesome Liberty's Gait that offers this service for free to children with special needs.  They are phenomenal with Logan. You would never know that Logan is the first child that they have ever had with autism.  I can't sing  Cindy & Floyd's praises enough.  Well, not Floyd's too much.  He is a Yankee fan after all. 

 

This riding semester I have been sending my mom with Logan.  To be brutally honest, I need the quiet time.  I feel guilty about it at times but it is necessary.  Logan talks a lot.  From the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed.  This means that I have to hear from him how the lesson went or depend on my mom to tell me the details.  Let's  be honest here.  This is Nana we are talking about.  If she ever said something bad about Logan, I would fall over.  I may not be getting the whole story every Monday.

 

I did learn that they were trying to get Logan to trot on the horse.  They had done the extended walk and felt that he was ready to trot. There was only one problem.  Logan was scared.  Logan is not one to try new things willingly.  If he is the least bit frightened, he will over analyze the situation.  It's at those times that he can paralyze himself with fear.

 

We have been spending a great deal of time talking about fear and courage.  You can be courageous and fearful at the same time.  Courage doesn't mean fear is absent.  It means you are afraid but you do it anyway.  You face your fear and conquer it.  This was one of those times.

 

We talked about trotting all week.  That Monday when he left , we had what can only be described as a mini pep rally.  Madison and I chanted and cheered that today was the day Logan was going to trot.  At first, he would agree to try.  By the time he left, he was smiling and laughing at us.

 

You know what?  He trotted that day.  He trotted all over the field.  He even controlled the horse himself for the barrels and the red light green light game.  He came in the house with the biggest smile anxious to tell me all about the trot.  We hooted and hollered. We high fived.  I made sure to tell Michael when he called during his lunch break at work within earshot of Logan.  We made a really big deal about it.    Certainly it was an over exaggerated reaction.  It was a reaction that he needed in order to cement the memory in his brain.  I say if it works then let's do it.  No matter how ridiculous I look chanting about trotting.  My neighbors probably think I'm nuts.