While you maintain a healthy respect for their hooves and teeth, if you work around horses all the time, you mostly lose any sense of primal fear that you may have had. Rutendo reminded us of that fear when she came to visit us last week. She saw these giant creatures, all legs and head and hair, their faces as big as her whole body and, quite understandably, she freaked out. And this is where our minis came into their own. We took Rutendo to see them and while she screamed in her father’s arms, they stayed remarkably calm. They went about business as usual, interested in all humans, even those screaming at the top of their lungs. We didn’t force anything and Rutendo’s parents were great. They played with her, held her, and talked to her. The presence of other kids is usually helpful and Kayla Paul and Connor Le Grange took the time to hold the minis and play with Rutendo. We brought out small colored balls and pretty soon Rutendo was sitting on the ground, playing with her parents and the others. By then she was so calm that when an interested Bridget walked straight up to Rutendo as she sat on the ground and hovered near her, Rutendo didn’t mind at all. She looked up at Bridget and just that simply accepted her as part of her life in that moment. While we sometimes forget how huge that fear of animals can be, it’s also amazing to be reminded of how little time it takes before we can get used to them, before we accept them, before we are able to look right into their eyes and see ourselves just a little bit differently than before.