Because of my insatiable hunger to know the soul of my Horses I am forced to know myself. In truth I had rather not bother with this, I would like to disappear and only see the Horse. My presence in this relationship is often heavy and filled with baggage.
But this is not the reason for the relationship. Those of us that are joined soulfully and spiritually with ‘The Horse’ have simultaneously chosen a life of self-growth. We cannot know, understand and connect with the Horse if we are not willing to see ourselves as we are moment by moment in our relationship.
We cannot understand the mysterious workings of the mind of Equus if we close our own mind. We cannot feel their wonderings and their wistful desire if we forbid our own. We cannot ask them to open to us if we are not open to what may transpire in this conversation.
To truly know the mind and soul of our Horse we must follow the path of self-enlightenment to our own mind and soul. This requires both commitment and surrender.
If we are to know what they witness between us or about us we must be free from barriers of judgments and reserve, and open to receive without filters what they have observed and experienced and how they reflect this back to us. As their behavior surely will do.
How we receive this may determine growth or rejection. If we hear the conversation through our hearts, we choose to expand self-knowledge. If we hear with our egos, our history and our habits, most likely we will experience a hardening in the space between us.
When we ask our Horse to give or to cooperate and they refuse, we often experience the side of ourselves that feels incompetent. Or the part that is disconnected and adrift. The part that despises impudence and noncompliance and this elicits rage and forceful action intent on demanding obedience. We may feel sensitive about the idea that we do not carry enough love within our relationship to bring cooperation.
But if we are wise and dedicated to our partnership, we will accept this as an invitation to reach deep into the instinctual wisdom within our spirit and quietly wait for it to speak.
It is during these times that we can either stubbornly dig in our feet and maintain our position of being right, or we can step back from what we have always relied on and open to something different.
These times of conflict or nonsuccess are the transfusions that bring growth and wisdom to evolve into the partners necessary to bring out the best in our Horse and to further our own self-knowledge.
The Invitation
Searching for self-knowledge through our Horse is not something that needs to take place only in times of conflict, we can also access this in times of connection and success. I normally say that when you spend time with your Horse, observe them, this is how we begin to truly know them. Today, while spending time with your Horse, observe yourself. Who and how are you being with them right now? Is this who you wish to be? How is your Horse reflecting who you are right now?