For the Horses

I just watched American Pharoah achieve what we thought was impossible, winning the Triple Crown, and I am reminded of the incredible greatness of horses. There is nothing so satisfying as a great horse story.  A great character drama, with an underdog, an insurmountable challenge and a determined, intrepid partner, and most of all—with a horse.

Other animal stories are good, but not like a horse story.  Dog stories are all about unconditional love, loyalty and usually grief (when the dog inevitably dies).  Dogs serve their masters with undying bravery, wait by their masters’ graves, save their masters from harm (and themselves).  They are tender and tear-jerking.

But, horses, oh, horse stories are about the potential for greatness within each being on earth, the potential for achieving more than anyone thought possible, the potential for surpassing one’s circumstances, parentage and upbringing and becoming truly great.  Horse stories are about transcendance.

Maybe it is an archetype, or something like that.  Maybe it goes back to when people depended on horses to be their transportation, their livelihood, their future and, even their food.  Maybe it is because horses are innately wild, prey animals that should not trust a hunter.  But, they do the unthinkable—they allow a predator to get on their back (the most vulnerable of places, the place where a big cat would attack them).  Then, they submit themselves to the will of that predator wholeheartedly.  But, horses don’t just follow us like our loveable dogs—no, they make us taller, faster, stronger and (I believe) smarter.  They give us their power and (possibly?) gain some of ours.

I don’t think horses care for our dreams and our glory. They would just as soon be grazing in a sunny pasture as working for human ambition.  But, they allow us to bend them to their will, they “fill us up” with their strength, grace and nobility.  They make us believe in our potential.  And, most of all, they gentle us, ennoble us, and teach us.

There is not much on earth that is as exciting or fulfilling as a great-looking, well-tempered horse. There is potential energy under that skin and I can’t help but want to join with it.  There is possibility for greatness between the ears, the mane, the hooves and the tail.  The lines of their body are waiting for direction, for purpose, for challenge.  There is that feeling of exhilaration when you mount a horse, take up the reins, and he gives you his back, coils his loins and gets ready to go.  At that moment, anything is possible.  Shakespeare’s Richard III was right when he called out, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!”

One doesn’t really, truly OWN a horse.  One just partners with a horse for a period of time.  Horses posses themselves and allow us to share their world.

Here is to the great horses I’ve had the privilege to know (in more or less chronological order, to be fair).  Bendigo, Madja, Dynasty, Fiostro, Favory IV Brenna, Conversano II Grandiosa, Grabina, Ziggy, Waly, Nite Life, Profeta, Niquel, Numenor, Umberto.  Thank you for lending me your essence.