What Our Horses Show Us
I remember last fall sitting with Nina one quiet afternoon and talking about horses (because really, what else would we talk about?). We were talking about horses we'd known and we got ourselves onto the topic of how every horse is beautiful. Be it bay, chestnut, big, small, round, slim, fancy, or frumpy and everything in between- we agreed all horses are beautiful.
I told her a story about my horse Gomez, and how every time I see him I just can't help but smile at how handsome he is but yet someone else had told me to my face he was "kinda ugly" while making a rather dismissive face to me. I told Nina about how at the time, I more or less moved along with the conversation because I didn't know what to say to it. In typical Nina momma bear fashion, Nina looked at me and said "well that's just stupid!" and then proceeded to tell me how rude that person was and that she couldn't believe they would say that to me and that "people suck".
Thus sparked a story from Nina I will never forget and that I think about frequently.
Nina began to tell me how she'd learned over the years that horses don't always show us themselves fully, that they pick people to show themselves to. She told me that while some people see "just a horse" others see something bigger, something more magnificent. Almost like the horse isn't showing their spirit to the rest of us, only a privileged few. We talked about a bay thoroughbred she knew that was always another horse to her except for one brief minute where she saw him, truly saw him. Nina told me how it stole her breath to suddenly see this large, bay beast of a horse where before she had seen another bay thoroughbred. She told me it only lasted for a moment and in a blink he was back to how she always saw him- but she never forgot that he allowed her to see his spirit, his true self, for that short moment. Now, Nina understood why the owner of this gelding had been so in love with him despite all the other wonderful horses she had the opportunity to be with, she understood what she saw when she looked at her horse.
My heart smiles when I think of this story and I find myself thinking about it more and more recently. My horse, Gomez, has almost always shown himself to me. He seems to have no shame in expressing his every feeling to me and I really cannot help but smile when I see him because he is just magnificent! More recently though, Thursday has been showing herself to me again. I think for a while she was not feeling like she could show herself to me (I think she maybe was feeling insecure with the fact that I have Gomez who steal so much of my affection) but now has been catching my eye again. I see her and see this beautiful, dark bay pony that shines with her own mahogany glow.
I feel that I have the benefit by working in horse rescue to see so many horses reveal themselves. To develop such a trust with them that they feel they are able to show themselves to me, I love it. I hope that more people are able to see these wonderful creatures in their fully beauty because it truly is a sight to see.
