pic by LitLinx
Horses are my ocean.
Some people pay lots of money to live and holiday by the sea, and delight in sitting on the balcony, just watching the ocean. We don’t expect anything of the ocean, just that it BE there. People describe the sense of peace and tranquility of watching the ocean, of listening to the rhythmic lapping of waves on the beach and being transported away from their daily troubles.
For me, one of the greatest pleasures in life is just watching my horses. I love to watch them gallop across the paddock when they’re first let out of their yard in the morning. I love to watch them lie down for their mid-morning nap. From my position in the house, I can see them almost all of the time, and I can talk to them every time I take a step outside the door. And, yes, they talk back! They keep a keen watch on the house and my movements because they just never know when they might get another feed or an apple or carrot.
Something that saddens me incredibly is when I hear of horses that have been put down or sold or, worse, sent to the ‘knackers’ because they couldn’t “work” any more, because they couldn’t ever showjump again, or because they couldn’t run fast enough. For me, the people who pass up these horses have missed the true beauty of what a horse is all about–just being a horse. Their refusal to keep a “glorified lawnmower” means that they will never know what else a horse might “be good for” because they never take the chance to find out.
If you knew that every time you looked at your horse, or sat under a tree and listened to the rhythmic chew-chew-chew as he ate, that your blood pressure and blood sugar levels were dropping, would that make a difference? If you knew that honouring your horse’s entire life, regardless of how long that was, was helping horses all around the world, would that make a difference? If you knew that loving and respecting and working for horses was helping people all around the world, building good ‘karma’ for yourself, and helping to balance the energies of life, would that make a difference?
If we accept that all live is valuable and has purpose, then we must surely ask ourselves, “what is the purpose of my relationship with this horse?” And if you don’t know, ask again. And again and again until you know. And when you know, you will really know.
pic by augustusoz
Horses are my ocean.
They do not have to “work” to be valuable because they already are just by being on the planet and in my backyard.
I am human and subject to human limitations but I do know that I cannot even begin to conceive of all the ways that they are contributing to my life and others’ lives. But I will commit to their whole life to find out.
