Horse Crazy [repost]

This was written in 2013, and as I’m cleaning up my older work
on other sites, it felt too good to put into the archives.

There are many jokes that seem to filter through the equine community, specifically correlating to the concept of what it means to be an equestrian, to be "horse crazy", or a rider. For most of us - and it is true, the majority of riders are female - it started before we could understand what it is to be "obsessed" with something.

For some, getting a Barbie toy horse was the first point in their life that the mystical "equine" became an fixture to them. For others, the opportunity to ride was given when they were young and a parent or relative rode. For otherwise, it was driving through farm country and watching a horse canter across a field.

But truly?

It does not matter when a girl (yes, ok, person) became enamored with a horse, it simply matters that it happens. It infests us, taking hold in the core of our being, our soul. The smell of hay and horses brings a smile to our hearts in a way that few other things - if any - ever can. Once we are finally astride the magnificent creatures of our fantasies, the weightlessness, the lift of our heart, the purepeace... It is indescribable.

It is not obsession, in the way some people obsess about going to the gym, or obsess about how their lawn looks (though, to be fair, I do not obsess about these things...so I do not know...), but it is about achieving the impossible, the crazy, the positively difficult. It is about learning to communicate with a creature who does not view the world the way we do, and who cannot speak our language. It is about trust, and bonding, and being able to say that your horse believes in you undeniably. It is knowing that because of you, he looks at a 4' table jump on cross country and says "OK", rather than stopping dead or bolting in another direction.

It is building, and it is achieving. It is learning to trust yourself enough to trust him - and having the confidence to accept that he trusts you implicitly, that he believes in your judgment, and that he will gladly rise to an occasion because you ask him to.

It is a relationship that transcends human relationships, because so often humans are afraid of facing their fears. Communication breaks down, and somehow without the ability to voice the problem, they cannot conquer it. The push to find the answer does not come into play, but it is a defining part of training with your equine partner.

After sharing this with a friend, she wrote:
"I love that feeling of sitting atop a 1200 pound animal that ALLOWS me to ride "it" because they trust me, not because I force them into it. The power beneath the muscles that bend and yield to my aids because I asked, and they know I would never ask if it would hurt them. To follow me blindly into any situation because they trust that no matter what we come across, I will stand in front of them and protect them. Its an indescribable feeling."

It is good to talk to people about this, because the more she and I talked, the more it really became evident... Horse/Rider relationships are not like Person/Person relationships. It is impossibly hard to explain, and it is so incredibly more complex. Where people get fed up with one another and pass judgments, they express it with their eyes, and it lives there. But a horse is uncomplicated by judgments. He doesn't care if you wore muck boots or sneakers to see him. He doesn't care if your hair needs to be redyed. He simply can look at you, look into your eyes, and see your soul. He can see if you are a good person, and he bases all his actions on that. It is the most amazing feeling in the world, simply, to have him accept you.