Today has been a day of non-stop work. This is the ongoing, usual state of life as a horsewoman. My father used to say, “Work is love made visible”, and I’m sure it was a quote of someone brilliant. My Mum always said, “Follow your Spirit without hesitation”. Just those two sentences became embedded in my brain and I think their influence has created a fine life for me.
Horses are “captive”, a friend was speaking of this… captive is a good description of most animals’ lives under human influence. I like to think of myself as a steward of my horses, my land, my other animals. Rather than “owning” a living being, I consider myself a partner in the adventure of life on Earth that we share. Today, I’m feeling the responsibility!
Another concept brought to me by my parents was that of responsibility and authority – if you have all of the responsibility, you must have all of the authority. And, if you insist upon the authority, you must take responsibility. These seem so simple to me. I grew up this way.
And, I grew up with horses. They certainly supported these concepts. If you have horses, you have a lot of responsibility. If you have the authority with horses, you have to be very clear and able to make immediate, life and death decisions on occasion! I know I have had to do so all of my life.
Simple rules, simple practices, simple life patterns make decisions easier and more accurate.
So, today I work on (literally) a dozen projects. I find myself smiling more than usual as one of our mares becomes more comfortable after an injury and my little dogs gather around me on the couch. A brief rest, a nap perhaps, and I will be ready to teach lessons if the storms hold off tonight!
One thing that has become clear to me – I have no real authority over the weather, so I take no responsibility for it either!
Stablewomen 