Riding looks as easy as sliding a boot into a stirrup and throwing a leg over the horses back. As simple as kick ’em and they go. The horse is a creature of habit and tolerance. It’s ride enough.
But if the human rattle and bang of expectation will go quiet, there is a flash, in the space of time between, a foot letting loose of the earth and a seat settling in the saddle, joining spines with a horse.
In that vulnerable second, you might glimpse an ageless intellect; have an intuition that the inside of a horse has a terrain of its own. Pause there at the edge. Understand his sovereignty. A horse is beyond our control in this physical world but there is a place where entrance is gained by invitation. No need to call out, he knows you’re there. Clean yourself up, tidy those emotions. When you’re ready , he’ll bring you inside.
Poem by Anna Blake from her book Horse Prayers.
Photo by Susan Stickle official photographer at the Global Dressage Festival.
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