The Daring HERD® Courage

On February 18th, 2023, the first Daring HERD® Courage Workshop was held at Braving Star Farms. It was amazing! My very first personal experience with equine-facilitated learning in 2017 was actually all about courage, so I wanted to share it here, along with the four components of ordinary courage (as defined by Brené Brown's research). 

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​1. Rumbling with vulnerability
 
I entered the arena with the side of my chest aching. I had shingles there when I was in High School, and often when I get anxious, I feel the nerve endings where the huge, painful blisters once were. We hadn’t been given instructions for what to do in the arena, and not knowing what is expected of me is a panic inducer. Later I would find out the vagueness had been on purpose because we were meant to be rumbling with vulnerability, but all I had in that moment was the shitty first draft I had written before going in: People are watching me. I will cry. I won’t know what to do and will second guess myself. I will step in shit.

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