By good fortune I found a horse named Dante. We have a day each week, just the two of us. Together we practice what’s called ground work. We walk connected by a rope and halter; sometimes I walk ahead, other times we’re side-by-side, occasionally I send him ahead on a 14-foot rope, moving in circles at his own speed, driven solely by my energetic attention and his innate keenness.
My responsibility in all this is to be present, moment by moment, to listen and watch and sense. The moment my attention drifts (as it does alarmingly often), he either pulls away, comes to a stop, searches the ground for bits to eat, or swivels ears and eyes to check the environment. Reaction to my wandering mind is instant.
The discovery lies in how I respond, what I do next. On a good day, I redirect attention to the here-and-now, sense my feet in the boots and boots on the ground, stand upright, notice the flow of breath in and out. In response, his ears may turn my way or his head incline towards me as he rejoins “us” to see what’s up. Being prey animals, horses are always in the Now; they don’t ruminate on what’s gone before or speculate on what might come next. The thing that truly connects us is our collective presence.
Not all is smooth, however. Self-doubt and inner critic are always hovering nearby. Precious moments of one-ness — when horse, human, and nature are in accord — can instantly yield to feelings of incompetence, complaints about joint pain, and criticism of Dante’s attention span. And yet … accord and discord are mere bubbles in the stream of experience. They come and they go; they’re neither good nor bad. By releasing the hold on such temporary interpretations my heart opens into momentary happiness.
Dr. Allan Hamilton*, neurosurgeon and horseman, writes that this work allows us to “discover a reliable way to silence our inner voice. We can move from an isolated, self-absorbed me to a connected, interactive we. Developing a partnership with a horse teaches us to summon and focus our own vital energy, the non-verbal life force of chi, in our interactions with others.”
*Hamilton, A. (2011). Zen Mind, Zen Horse: The Science and Spirituality of Working with Horses. Storey Publishing.
Hello Peter: Thank you for these notes of your developing awareness of the gift Dante is to you. When my late daughter and I told the Meditation leader at Inspire Health in Vancouver that she was living in Pemberton, she was quite excited to tell us that it was the place where “Equine Yoga” was beginning to be practised. Perhaps you know of this, if not, I thought you would be interested in the shared discovery and realization of this further example, from my point of view, of our deep connectedness with all of Creation. I hope you are well – I haven’t been with you and the group for sometime because of conflicting schedules but hope sometime to return. Barry
So nice to hear from you, Barry: I hope that you’re well.
Tuesday evening mindfulness meditation continues at a new time (7:30-8:45). Click for details
On Monday, Feb. 23 I’ll be starting a 4-session course for people new to Mindfulness Meditation (a la Jon Kabat-Zinn) at Oak Bay Recreation (Monterey Centre). Click for details or phone the centre at (250) 370-7300. »
I’ve had no experience with “equine yoga” but here’s the link to the teacher in Pemberton, BC.
from my long-time Zen teacher: “Looks like you found a ‘human whisperer’. I had a tender dream about you last night. Thank you for all the good work you have done and are doing in this brief life.”