Day 6.

21/01/2013

The one advantage to the early mornings has got to be the views.

A horse, to me, is a symbol of much more than four legs and an ability to push you over. It is a source of constant amazement to me that not only do horses let us on them, in the way that they instinctively wouldn't in the wild because it's the same way that they would get attacked (they would get launched at from the side, the animal would then claw into their backs until they killed them), but they also let us harness the power that they have to our own advantage and we've managed to make this all into an entire aspect of culture. I am fully aware, of course, that their brains are the size of a walnut but without the sense of charm, but it still impresses me.

To me, however, horses signify power, as I mentioned, and freedom. One of the reasons that I named Nomad as such (the one that I say less, I usually say "well he looks like a gypsy but I thought that was too girly") was because he made me imagine riding through America. From the top to the bottom, roughly, working along the way for food and board and a stable - or at least a patch of land. Horses thrive off routine but I'm sure it would work out. It would be an amazing experience and would justify the expense of transporting him over there, because it would be for a good few years before I would return and settle down. That's what I mean by "freedom". The ability to go anywhere and do anything. I also remember when I was depressed and had a horse called Willis on loan. I would go out for rides that would be hours and hours long, and for those hours I wouldn't have a care in the world except for the horse under me and how he was going. I adored that animal. I can still now remember the feeling of coming back onto the yard after being out with him and how the world and all its seriousness came crushing down onto my shoulders, like a weight being added as soon as I re-entered the real world.

I think I've previously written a post about this... but well, it just needed said, if I'm honest.

Cait.X