One of my favorite things to do is to hang out with the horses who live with us. And, when I say “hang-out” I mean…. just “being” with the horses and donkeys.
No expectations
No need for me to touch and pet
No desire to teach anything
No impulse to direct or control or move
No checking my phone
No thought of being “leader”
Just…being. Me being with these other sentient beings who are just being
We share the same ground upon which we step
We share the same air that we each inhale
We feel the same cool fall breeze on our skin
We smell the same fall scent of decaying leaves
We hear the same final calls of the Sandhill Cranes down in our wetlands
I pay attention…not in a laser-focused way as if to analyze their gait
I pay attention…in a soft, spacious way as if I can sense it all
I can almost sense the space between me and a horse contract right before he moves
I can feel my breath begin to synch with the horse’s breath
I can sense when the horse quietly approaches from behind me to sniff the back of my head
I just be…slowing my breath, deepening my breath…allowing my breath to be light so that my nervous system remains calm
The feeling of gratitude envelopes me
I radiate the feeling of gratitude out into the world from my heart just like the sun shining its golden rays with equanimity
I fill our world with the feeling of gratitude
This is how the horse will know to trust you…this is how you will learn to trust your horse
This is me being with horses...join me!