The Hearts of Horses
Excerpt from Each Wind That Blows by Susannah Cord
Why is it, I wonder, as I let my hand run down Libra’s neck, not white but a rich coppery chestnut, why is it that anything looks better from the back of a horse? Why are our emotions greater, grander, why do we feel such freedom, so elevated in majesty that all regents through time wanted to be depicted on the back of a handsome horse?
Is it, as has been suggested to me, because we are taller and more imposing when we sit upon the beast, because the speed we borrow from the horse heats our blood and whips our adrenalin to a frenzy, leaving us out of breath and full of endorphic euphoria? Is it because the horse lends us a sense of freedom leaving behind the mundane as his four feet take us further, faster and over obstacles we could never clear on our own two in such high fashion?
Is it that horses, like us, lend themselves to cultivation, to learning and facilitation of honing of skills, and that their innate intelligence and sensitivity in fact mirror our own? Maybe it is because when we sit on their backs, a representation of symbolic elevation in spirit and spiritual growth, leaving the earthly and the commonplace in the soil, we also sit above their hearts in alignment with our own as they connect us with an earthy intelligence and knowing we have all but lost.
Perhaps these hearts of horses that embody a latitude of generosity and kindness seldom found in our own lend a sense of what can be found if sought, what may be won if fought, what we may become if only we would try.
The horses of Offbeat Safaris look tough and capable, beautiful in their rugged capacity, emanating a sense of inner strength and endurance that is appealing and comforting. I feel like I can place my life in their hands and not be disappointed. Or wake up dead. They have the look of horses that know and accept their job and still think for themselves. A good combination when traversing territory riddled with large, possibly hungry, cats.
