Why horses don’t drink water
There is an old saying that states: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”. To juxtapose this modern proverb onto a commercial gym setting, we see lots and lots of personal trainers leading their clients to the waters of weight loss, improved fitness, and other improved health parameters. But like many, these domesticated horses aint drinking the fitness kool-aid. And so goes the story that the client gets frustrated, the trainer equally, if not more so, frustrated that progress isn’t made. The trainer points the finger at the client for not eating vegetables and the client points the finger back at the trainer for not doing his/her job properly. We often seek comfort in passing the buck through finger pointing, but it never gets us anywhere except sore eyeballs.
So let’s go back to the horse analogy for a second…
If you lead a horse to water and it does not drink, could that mean that part of the problem is leading the horse in the first place?
Horses do not drink for many different reasons including minor illnesses, cold weather, and stress. This is a choice that the animal makes, and this choice is neither good nor bad. Instead of forcing or punishing the animal to drink, it’s best to take away the noxious stimulant and let the animal come to it of its own volition. Instead of forcing our way into making the horse drink, we allow the internal wisdom and choice of the animal to lead itself to the water when it is ready. The buddhists call this “getting out of your own way”.
Domestic horses are led to water all the time and do not drink, but wild horses run free and drink when they feel they need to. What if, perhaps, we met clients where they are at, lead by example in our own lives, and let them drink the water of improved health and fitness when they are ready? Create a positive environment, an atmosphere that quenches thirst, and set the wild horse within someone free, honoring their internal wisdom and teaching them to find their own water when they are ready.
Stop leading the horses and start watching them gravitate towards the water’s edge.