Can you make a horse drink?

Serenbe Stables

Have you ever ridden a horse? The very first time I ever rode a horse was at Frontier Young Life Camp in Colorado. The horse seemed to know what he was doing. I, clearly, did not. They guide told me the horse, named Peaches, was a line trained horse and would know where to go, when to walk and when to run. My only task was to stay on the horse and follow the guide’s instructions. That should be easy, right? Famous last words.

I did really well when we started out of the gate down the trail. The guide’s horse was walking and Peaches was walking. I was holding onto the reigns and doing well. Then we came upon a bigger clearing, so the guide announced we were going to do some trotting. He told us how to do so without beating ourselves to death in the process. Peaches knew just what to do and I was following instructions well.

When we hit the large clearing, it was time to run with the horses. The only problem I had was Peaches must have been a gifted horse and she knew exactly what to do when we hit that clearing. She didn’t wait for the guide to give us instructions on how to stand in the stirrups or how to hold onto the reigns and horn of the saddle. Nope, as soon as we hit that clearing, she just took off running full speed ahead.

I looked like someone in a bad episode of I Love Lucy with limbs flailing in every direction.

My only saving grace was Peaches knew when she came to the road, she was supposed to stop… and she did, without warning. How I managed to stay on that horse is beyond me. Needless to say, it was years before I ever got back on a horse.

I’ve gotten over the trauma of horseback riding. In fact, our family went out west to a dude ranch for a vacation a couple of years ago. Black Mountain Ranch was a lot of fun. If you ever want to experience a dude ranch, I highly recommend BMR.

I was given the horse named BARS. BARS was a sweet horse, but stubborn like nobody’s business. I’m not sure which one of us was more stubborn. [Stop laughing! Haven’t I already embarrassed myself enough for one day?]

I’m certain he was the horse that made the saying famous,

You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.”

I’ve always thought that was a true statement until I heard someone speak about it who grew up riding horses his whole life. He said the statement was false. You can make a horse drink. The way you do so it to feed him salt. The salt will cause him to be thirsty and cause him to drink water.

Matthew 5:13 says,

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

We’re supposed to be salt in our sphere of influence, bringing a little spice and flavor to a lost and dying world. When others encounter us, the way we live our lives should cause them to thirst for more of Jesus.

When was the last time you made someone thirsty for the Lord? It’s not too late to start now!