The Real Purpose of the Pitchfork

Posted by The Divine Cowgirl on June 8th, 2009 at 09:37am

If you have ever owned horses, you are acquainted with all that goes with the privilege of being in a committed relationship. If you house one of your favorite friends on your property there are chores to be attended to 365 days a year. From feeding sometimes twice a day (depending on the pasture situation), grooming, exercise, scheduling of the vet and farrier, to the cleanup process and more.

I have some favorite chores. I love feeding in the morning. I love being greeted by impatient knickers, stomps, snorts and even bucket banging. I love the smells of hay, the barn, leather and warm bodies. I love sitting on a bale of hay drinking my coffee listening to the sounds of breakfast enjoyed and watching the sun rise. For me that was one of the best parts of a day on a horse farm.

And while I can’t say I love the next chore, I can say I miss doing it right now. I miss cleaning stalls. I have discovered that my very best meditations have been at the end of a pitch fork. Yep, really.

Being a kinesthetic learner, the repetitive act of scooping poop frees my mind as my body basically goes on auto pilot. I am able to simply get out of my thinking head and find the still point of the mind. For me this activity is even better than a walking meditation. There is something real and grounding in being of service and being with the animals. So I suppose you could say that for me, the pitch fork is a tool for meditation.

The act of getting quiet, turning off my over active thinking mind, and taking a listening stance opens me to new insights and possibilities. There is something metaphorical about mucking out waste products and giving it new life in the form of compost. In those thirty years of running professional barns I shoveled out plenty of manure from my own life by examining my stories, beliefs and thoughts at the end of a pitch fork. Stall cleaning gives plenty of time for contemplation and introspection.

I noticed that my young students had varied responses to the opportunity of cleaning stalls. For some it was a necessary evil that needed to be avoided at all costs. For others it was a chance to be with themselves. And for others it was an invitation to see how fast they could do the bare minimum. I found it insightful to notice that how they approached the activity was how they approached most things in their lives.

In our sound bite world that seems to move at the speed of light, chores offer a rare chance to slow down and be present to our breathing, and quiet our mind. They are built in pauses to our lives. I wonder if you have a built in pause?

When we love something we attend to it. I love horses and all that comes with them. I am grateful for all that being in relationship with them has brought me including my pitchfork meditation time. I have come to appreciate meditation as a necessary part of my spiritual practice. It is a physical reminder to listen.

If you have an opportunity to participate in pitchfork meditation I encourage you to give it a try. You never know what you can learn at the end of a pitchfork!

The Divine Cowgirl

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Tags: chores, contemplation, horses, introspection, pitchfork meditation, quiet mind

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