H.O.R.S.E

Posted by The Divine Cowgirl on March 24th, 2009 at 10:37am

The cowgirl archetype brings up a sense of restlessness, a sense of embracing new frontiers and leaving behind someone else’s idea of how life is to be lived.  There is a sense of connection with nature, a need to be close to the earth.  There is also a need to connect with her horse.  

Horses have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  My parents had to tie my plastic rocking horses to a piece of plywood so that I didn’t ride it through the plate glass window.  From Shetland ponies to Olympic level training, horses have been my teacher, my friend and my partner in learning about life.  I have come to believe that H.O.R.S.E is an acronym for Helping Others Recognize Spiritual Essence.  And over the years horses have assisted my dance with the Divine.   

A friend has recently reconnected to her passion with horses.  She currently has a stressful job that requires her to be away from home for extended periods of time.  While she called forth travel and a sense of adventure in her life, this time is calling her to homestead her own inner landscape.  It is calling her to lay down her history and be fully present to her now.  In reconnecting with the horses she is finding a safe and grounding place to simply hear differently.  I swear that horses provide the amplification so that we can hear the Universe speaking.  

There is something so grounding in the act of grooming.  It is a service to the animal as well as a form of connection.  In the act of becoming present to the animal by attending to its needs, we find ourselves breathing more fully, even relaxing.  We allow ourselves to be caught up in a “working” meditation.  Our bodies find a rhythm to curry and brush, awake to the pleasure that the act brings to the horse by the lean or a lift of the lip and we find ourselves open and listening.  

Barn time was more than simply exercising a horse or checking off a “to-do” on a training list in preparation for some event or activity.  The simple act of cleaning a stall was in someway a physical metaphor for shoveling the crap out of my own life.  Meeting the horse was a physical metaphor of Martin Buber’s I-Thou experience.  In order to see the horse as a Thou, I had to be willing to lay down using the animal for my own vicarious needs and truly be present to the nature and being of the horse.

In my mind that is a perfect metaphor for meeting the Divine.  How often do we go to God wanting God to deliver or do something in our lives rather than being curious about the Nature and Being of God?  What if this week we were curious about the Nature of the Divine? How would we approach our relationship?  Would we find time to simply listen and discover that Spiritual gift the Universe would like to deliver – a smile of a child, a connected conversation with a friend or lover, a moment in nature?

If you have a barn to spend time in, be present to your time in the barn and if you have work, family or others to spend time with, be present to your time this week. Mindfulness is the first step in listening. Listening is the first step of being aware of spiritual essence, and in my mind the horse is the perfect partner to learn with.

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Tags: cowgirl, divine self, horses, inspirational, listening, spirtual

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