I was laughing today with my German student, Caro, about how we feel like witches mixing our horses’ special feed in the inky cauldron of a giant black muck tub. We stir the heavy mix with the wooden end of an old pitchfork while our tabby (not black) barn cats swirl around our ankles as if a powerful potion is in the making. I love that humor, especially when it’s based in the myths, fantasies, legends, & fairy tales we learn as children, is so universal! Imagining yourself a witch is actually a lot of fun.
In fact, today in the stable did feel magical & it was a lot of fun. It was the day I chose to ride Sinatra for the first time since he reentered my life’s story. When I sat in the saddle today & looked down on his beautiful black neck I had an image flash into my mind, a memory of my favorite model horse as a child. It occurred to me that the black horse model had exactly the same face as Sinatra. Or did I just imagine it? The feeling was surreal.
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While I started moving through the work with him I also started thinking to myself- this really is magic.
When a horse believes you can help him, a door to another dimension is opening.
How many horses have come & gone in my own life, not to mention the lives of others, where that door was never unlocked? Even when you manage to open doors through trust, it does not mean you won’t make mistakes & cause harm. The most distinctive thing about being a true horseman is that we never intend to do it wrong. Thankfully, what’s trending across the globe today in all aspects of life, not just training horses is:
When you know better, do better.
Every single horseman that ever lived has had occasion to put this principle into practice. That’s the beauty of horses- they keep giving us chances. Horses that need our help are our chance, as a race of horsemen, to return the uncountable favors they have done for us over the last 6000 years. Seems like the least we can do.
The beauty is that while you’re helping them, it may not be magic, but it sure feels like it & really isn’t that all that matters?
