It lacks the zing of Hunter S's brilliant book, but I needed a working title so there it is. I was driving south of Exeter, up Haldon Hill and past the Belvedere, just to keep Obama fit and I met a couple of leading rein ponies. The young and nervous riders were 5 or 6 at a guess, and had little obvious control over their mounts, which is par for the course.
When one of the ponies squealed and reared a couple of inches (I was watching his feet so I know) the rider burst into tears. But what amazed me was the adult leading the pony saying, "Don't be scared. The pony can sense fear."
Why not say, "Don't be five years old and a novice." You would have the same chance of being obeyed, and you would have identified the reason for the fear. Can you think of any circumstance when being told not to be scared will make you less scared. No, I can't either.
But to add to the problem, the scared child is then told that the pony will sense her fear. Will that make her any less scared. If you are facing an enormous bouncer, and you are told that being scared of him will make him attack, just how relaxed will you be.
It is demonstrably true that the pony can sense fear. But what does a pony do when it's leader is scared. Treat him with contempt, kick him, run away from him. Let's take the obvious analogy, herd leader (choose whether male or female according to which book you read last) sees a lion stalking towards the herd looking ravenously hungry. If the herd leader isn't scared he will carry on grazing and some of the herd are going to be lunch.
If he/she is scared, the smell of scared herd leader, and the sight of scared herd leader and the sound of scared herd leader will tell the herd that there is a threat around. They will then look to the herd leader to get some idea of what to do. Maybe the obvious area to flee is into a box canyon, so the herd leader, while looking, smelling and sounding scared, will lead the herd towards the threat so they can escape off to the side to real safety.
A herd leader that is never scared is going to be somebody's lunch pretty soon. Fear is the norm if you are a prey species. So when you are riding, and a lion approaches, is your horse going to respect you because you remain calm and unafraid? No, he is going to think you are a brain dead prat who deserves to die, and will wonder why he has to risk his neck hauling your useless carcase out of danger.
Courage is respected by the army, and I have massive respect for those who risk, and frequently lose their lives, fighting for us. But I am sure Obama would be able to detect fear in the guys walking towards an IED, or patrolling or just sitting waiting for incoming mortar rounds. He wouldn't lose respect for them and nor do I. I respect courage, which is the ability to take the right decision while scared.
Not being scared when there is a clear and obvious risk, like sitting on a pony over which you have no control, is a sign that you are stupid. Somebody telling you not to be scared is rather more stupid.
The obvious requirement for a pony with a small, inexperienced, and almost by definition, nervous child on its back, is that it should be with people it trusts, and in places where it feels safe. Then the fear from the child will be treated as the natural behaviour of someone who doesn't know the area. But if the pony doesn't know and trust the people, and the area, then you have an accident waiting to happen and the adults concerned are stupid, and what is worst, trying to make the child feel that it is the child's fault that everything is not going smoothly.
Basically telling a child not to be scared because the pony will sense his fear, is stupid on about three different levels and the best known way to put children off riding. But telling people not to be stupid is nearly as pointless as telling them not to be scared.
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