The horse requires no mechanical aid to display it’s power. The simple persuasion of a pile of hay awaiting in the field or the threat of a cold wind in the trees or beckoning neigh from a fellow horse can inspire the horse to run. The horses’ inspiration to run may not be divine; horses are afraid of only two things: things that move and things that do not move. While bravery is usually best left to species such as the dog, the horse is the epitome of grace and elegance.
There are no feelings to compare with the sensation of riding a horse out to an open field and feeling the collection of muscles beneath you firm with tension. With the slightest signal the horse is released into a lunge, surging forward with the spring of enormous hindquarters, thrusting both of you forward into a run.
The ground blurs beneath your feet, you cannot discern the foot falls as each of the four beats meld into one. In this moment you have a choice to worry or to fly; allowing the movement to wash away cares and sorrow, to fill your heart with possibility and freedom.
Horses can conjure up images of dignity, poise, coordination and grace… certainly not all horses are created equal in this regard. Some run effortlessly, masterfully lifting and placing their feet with agility and impeccable cadence. Other horses seem to randomly collect their four limbs and then thrust them out at varying angles and intervals, with some amount of success in forward propulsion. No matter their technique we still marvel at how fast and strong even the most timid horse can be.
The horse knows not their size and and strength. It is due to their good graces that they don’t knock down our fences, rip through our ropes and otherwise cause major havoc. Call it better motivated, smarter or perhaps just a bit bored but some horses are just prone to a bit of cheeky trickery. These horses are often the jesters or the trouble makers, their creativity can be greeted with frustration or admiration, it is all in the perspective that you approach the situations these horses create.
Out of our 27 horses only two of them realized that the electric fencing is rarely electrified. These two horses will dip underneath the tape and seek out any extra feed laying around. They are just putting their keen sense of inquisition to good work. Our other horses will stand a few feet away from the tape and wait to be let in and out of the field.
When it does come time to let the horses out to the night paddock, they will come down out of the bushes and wait by the gate. A majority of nights they amble down at a walk or a trot, they bicker and jostle with one another with little ruckus.
One particularly windy evening, we let them loose and all 24 of them galloped out to the big field. We all stopped our work to watch them out on the valley floor spiraling and swirling like a school of fish or a flock of birds. Eventually they began to slow down and eat the hay we had set out, but watching them for the few minutes of celebration was a spectacular occasion.
It truly is a sight to behold, the force of a galloping horse.
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