Listen Here
By Kendall Westgate, WestgateK@Findlay.edu
When training baby horses, fear can dictate groundwork and under-saddle training. However, a sermon that took place on campus recently at a meeting for two different University of Findlay student clubs helped students direct their fear in the right direction.
Sophomore Sydney Taylor is an officer for one of the clubs.
“Riders for Christ paired with Sermon Survey on Oct. 20 to show a recorded sermon, ‘Born Wild,’ hosted by Crossroads Church. In a round pen set up on the stage in the church, horseman Todd Pierce presented a sermon while training an unbroke horse,” Taylor said. “A primary purpose in presenting this sermon series was to show how we can see ourselves in horses; like horses in a sense, we are born wild but experience true freedom when we choose to surrender and follow a Heavenly Father, as horses can find true freedom in choosing to follow us as their leader. After watching the sermon, we spent some time together sharing our thoughts on what we had seen and heard.”
About 15 equestrian and non-equestrian students attended this sermon put on by Riders for Christ and Sermon Survey. This event took place in CBSL 136 at 6 p.m. They provided dinner for participants and discussed the video.
“My favorite part of the sermon was how fear holds us back. The horse’s fear held it back from fully trusting the trainer,” junior Kalena Jackson said. “So often, fear and doubt hold us back from exploring all that God has in store for us. That is why it is so important to ask your questions about faith and spend time in God’s Word just like it is important for the horse to be reminded over and over again that something is not scary through desensitization.”
Taylor described her favorite part of this event.
“I appreciated the opportunity to collaborate for this event geared towards equestrian students,” Taylor said. “It was something different and initiated an interesting conversation for equestrians to share part of our world of horses, as well as how working with horses can reveal more about ourselves and encourage reflection on the analogy used to facilitate a deeper understanding of a meaningful spiritual relationship.”
Students enjoyed attending the event and hope for more in the future. Riders for Christ (a branch of Campus Ministry) wants to host more events to encourage community-building for equestrian students, according to Taylor.
“I will attend more events like this in the future,” Jackson said. “I really appreciate Campus Ministry holding events that relate to equestrians, no matter if you are in the major or just have a love for horses.”
During sophomore year in the Equine Studies program at UF, students learn to break out a baby horse. This means working on the ground and eventually riding them. This can be a new experience for most, so Equine Studies students were able to connect to this video.
“I am able to relate this sermon to my daily life with horses by remembering that the same patience God has with me as I live my life, I have when training my horses something new,” Jackson said. “Mistakes will happen but instead of punishing the horse we redirect them and try to help them understand what we are asking.”
