It is 2020 at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. As racecars speed around the track, a white vehicle overshoots a corner, smashes into a barrier at 119 mph, and bursts into flames. With a collective gasp, everyone watching thinks that the driver couldn't possibly survive such a crash. But 27 very long seconds later, driver Romain Grosjean emerges from the flames relatively unscathed.
A Formula 1 race can be surprisingly similar to an animal training session. Before the start, a trainer formulates a game plan, psychs themselves up, and expects to accomplish great things. The beginning of the session starts like every other, animal and trainer feeling each other out. If the trainer decides to make a big move, it might pay off and lead to victory. Or that risk might cause them to crash into a giant fireball.
The latter happened a few months ago with Otto the Great Horned Owl. He was feeling confident stepping on the glove, so I decided to make a big move. Squatting next to him, I untied his leash and stood up with Otto on my glove. I knew something was wrong right away when he tried to fly off the glove to escape. He quickly regained his footing on the glove. But I could sense that that was just a warning flame.
I took a small step with my right foot and the session ignited into a fireball. Otto tried repeatedly to fly off and I struggled to get his feet back on the glove. We were both panicked and out of breath. Eventually his feet landed and with a shaky hand I tied his leash and set him back on a perch. Walking out the door with my heart racing, I couldn't see how we could ever recover from such a wreck.
Grosjean's account of escaping his flaming vehicle painted a picture of someone incredibly calm and rational. He observed his surroundings, looking left and right he saw orange. At first he didn't think he would get out. But he began to work methodically to release his trapped foot and pull himself out of the car.
I knew that I also needed to stay calm with Otto, even though our prospects looked hopeless. Slow and steady, we continued training over the next few weeks to rebuild our confidence together. I began to realize that our fireball training session wasn't as bad as it had seemed in the moment. Pretty soon he was stepping back on the glove.
This week I was able to untie Otto's leash once again. As we metaphorically climbed out of the fire, I realized that the flames of a bad training session never last long.
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