White Horse Pilgrim

Activity amidst tranquility

Doru and Eve continue to enjoy one-another's company. He will remain with her until a scan confirms pregnancy. Probably at least another month. Lucky boy.

A short evening ride was tranquil and sensual. Golden light, green grass and white flowers. The fragrance of a sweaty horse. Smooth leather reins and a coarse mane. It was a lovely time to be out, an antidote to a busy day at work, and further inspiration to write. (A fresh idea for creative writing germinated out there.)

As we stood still to graze a noise started behind the ridge. Brena is a good one for alerting me to the unusual. So she looked straight at this military helicopter, then put her head back down to continue cropping the rich grass. This is lower than they fly usually, training to stay alive in our foreign war.

A day later...

A day later we're not interested in one-another. 

Well, perhaps we might be a little interested.

Yes, we are nice, aren't we! 

But all that green grass is just too tempting!

But, for all that nonchalance, I know from the neighbours that they bred last night after I left. Eve had a foal by Doru last year, a fine big-boned laid-back roan filly. The scan showed that she became pregnant right at the end of Doru's time with her. So he will stay there until a scan shows that she is in foal. With such nice grass I doubt whether he will mind. 

Doru meets a friend

This afternoon Doru went on a trip to meet Eve. 

Doru met Eve two years ago. Just a little re-acquaintance was needed. 

Yes, she seems rather interesting and happy to be the centre of attention.

Best not rush, Doru, she's allowed to be capricious.

Doru, try to remember anatomy!

Now they've got it worked out.

Clean-ish horse

It is pleasant at last to have a moderately clean horse. A combination of dry weather and copious shedding has left Brena with a mud-free body. White fur is bright and the brown lustrous. Most of this happened all by itself. Just that stained tail needs a good wash. The time for that will come, when the weather is just a bit warmer.

Out on a ride it was lovely to reach down and stroke her soft smooth neck. Now that felt as if spring had arrived, the cool breeze notwithstanding.

Now to clean and oil tack that is starting to see a considerable increase in usage. It's time to experience again the spring-time slipperiness and smell of leather oil.

The next week is forecast to be rainy. Perhaps for a few days evening rides will be limited. But then Brena and I shall be unleashed to ride almost daily. A clean horse and supple tack, even if I am stiffer than In used to be. Once the rain passes, hard ground in this arid place. Green grass for grazing stops. Limited rain does not seem to stunt the robust hill sward.

Everything is coming together again in spring harmony.

This is all good.

The way

A clear path across the fields. A straight way towards the horizon, for a little way at least. Simple, uncomplicated, hard to go wrong. Even if that is the field where, last autumn, Brena tried to get down and roll. Under saddle. Cheeky mare, she was practically smiling when I got off and told her to stand up.

A winding descending trail across the hills, slipping between racehorse gallops and sheep pastures. Easy to follow, plenty for an inquisitive horse to look at. Today Brena stared at the racehorse starting gates, without actually breaking her stride: they weren't scary. "You won't ever be going in one of those," I told her.

Sometimes life seems a little simpler, or at least more comprehensible, with a bit of friendly explanation. So I was delighted to read Becky's accurate appraisal of Brena here and here. She is a simple, straightforward, robust, healthy, honest and loyal horse, but one with hidden depth too. She is slow to show problems and, misunderstood or ignored, capable of a violent outburst.

In a way like these trails, Brena operates on two levels. The real richness and joy come from discovering that which is veiled. And that knowledge keeps one safe too.

I didn't realise until now that a part of Brena's personality relates best to children. She benefits from a simple, innocent, open approach. On reflection that makes sense. When I approach her simply, seeking her company and bringing no agenda, she opens up to me. There is a thread of simply enjoying being together. There is even an element of play, which is safe enough with a mare whose nature it is to look after her companion. An open, gentle, intuitive approach guards against building up that frustration that leads to an outburst. So does taking care with the fit of tack and letting the chiropractor take a look at least yearly. Intuition hints at incipient problems to be checked.

I had written a few days ago about the revelation that cantering is a metaphor for orgasm. That seems far from childishness. But I remember someone (a psychologist) commenting that we have three character traits: adult, parent and child. The first is for work and life, the second for looking after children, and the third for the bedroom. So, that simple metaphor does indeed apply to a mare that prefers a child-like approach.

Contradicting nearly everything I was taught at a riding school, a horse like Brena emphatically is not a flesh-and-blood machine that one issues commands to. 

Head profile

Here's a head profile as Becky requested. I am looking forward to what this will reveal about my "pilgrim horse".

 

Profiles

Here are a few profiles of Brena, chiefly for Becky to appraise. Well, actually for everyone to look at. She is a pretty mare. Not always scrupulously clean, but pretty nonetheless.

In nearly every photo she seems to be eating. That is a fair reflection of reality. I struggled to find a couple where her nose was not in close proximity to foliage.

Proximity

I lay down outside the paddock fence to perform a few stretches. It's a tranquil place to rest, exercise my back, work on muscles and so on. Most important are the pelvic floor muscles which, suitably worked, liberate the lower part of my spine into fresh flexibility. So I keep supple and drive away aches until it is time again to visit the chiropractor.

Brena came over and watched, curious about the strange things that her owner was doing. This was after I had fed her and she had eaten her evening feed with usual rapidity. I could reach up and stroke her nose. But mainly she seemed to appreciate being close.

In turn I was curious how close she stands to the electrified tape. It is switched on. I've not seen Brena catch a shock. But clearly she knows not to touch the tape. How can she gauge proximity within an inch beneath her neck? But she does.

Perhaps horses do have unusually well developed spatial awareness? That would go with being large and needing to move accurately. After all she can gallop across quite rough ground without losing her footing, walk precisely into a trailer.....and canter up the field only to stop sharply with her nose in a feed bowl. That's a happy canter including a couple of bucks and a bit of a shake.

Archetype upon the hill

Today yielded this year's first after-work evening ride - and even before the clocks changed. Brena was keen to go out, loaded smartly, then at the far end stepped out well. So, she wanted to go fast. Well, we'd started on the hilltop so we'd better get to the bottom. Down the gentle hill Brena jogged, keen to get a move on. Then looping around to return I asked her to speed up. In reality I think that we were asking one-another: whether she could and whether she would. Well, she did. After the first excited hop (which, I think, is a simple explosion of energy rather than intentional bucking) it was a gallop up the gently rising turf. Once Brena has got through that little bit of excitement at the beginning, she is a solid reliable horse at speed.

I enjoyed that burst of speed, and clearly so did she. In a way Brena needed it more than I did. But it was fun to go fast, and a pleasant reminder of what a good horse I have. A further two fast canters left Brena satisfied, and me too. I was curious how she needed to get this out of her system, and how good it was to do so rather than keeping all that energy and desire bottled up. And it occurred to me that a nervous rider, afraid and pulling, would have left Brena confused, frustrated and possibly with a sore mouth too.

That takes me back to a big draught-cross mare back in Transylvania, Lee, daughter of the herd alpha and a strong character. Once day I put an experienced area rider on Lee, but a rider who proved nervous in open spaces. After being held back firmly on a couple of canters, Lee neatly dumped that rider.

I had been thinking about equine archetypes, prompted by Becky at Horse Ideology. Whilst riding I was trying to characterise Brena:
- Enjoys human attention;
- Happy to go out without other horses;
- Food-focused;
- Emotional, wants her needs fulfilled (such as a gallop);
- Sensitive physically, wants to be handled gently;
- Will warn before retaliating, then will buck (typically) if the irritation continues;
- Curious about her surroundings, even things far away;
- Trusting (such as dealing with hazards, trailering, new places, etc); and
- Calm, sensible, not easily frightened.

What I am perceiving is that I have a mare with a firm awareness of who she is and what she needs or wants. Brena is a kind, trusting mare, but will become assertive if she wants something to happen - or wants something (such as pressure) to stop. For her the world is not a fearful place, but still something to be curious about. Brena is a bit of a loner, not relating particularly closely to other horses, but has formed a close bond to me. A little like a human relationship there are squabbles, views have to be asserted, and there needs to be compromise. She is sensitive and needs a wise guiding hand, gentle mostly but occasionally firm when necessary. Through her responses, whether joyful or in opposition, Brena teaches me.

I wonder what sort of Archetype is dominating here?

The curious thing is that back in Transylvania I owned a mare very like Brena, the unforgettable Olga. She too was a draught-cross, strong yet sensitive, opinionated yet loyal, and more interested in people than in other horses. Like Brena, as a foal she was brought up almost as a pet (based on what I have learned from the respective former owners). I knew less when I owned Olga, and so she frustrated me terribly. Then, when I grasped more of her character, I began to enjoy riding Olga, even led a week-long trail ride from her. Better understood, she became far more co-operative, though still demanding that her needs be respected. In Olga's case that included a preference for a fast ground-covering trot to a canter. (And she could trot quite comfortably when the other horses were in a mid-paced canter. I used to stand for that trot.)

Olga seemed happiest with men working her, and I do wonder whether Brena is similar there too. Projecting solely from the Anima side of my personality does not make my relationship with the mare any better. Perhaps the truth is that she prefers me complete: a mixture of decisiveness, skill, fairness, sensitivity and intuition. There again she is helping me to grow. Maybe she is a zen horse?

Ponying

This is the scene that caught my eye across a large field. What a well-behaved horse being ponied across, not snatching at vegetation even once. The two dogs seem to be having a pleasant time of exploring. There are so many interesting smells out there: other dogs, rabbits, hare and deer to name a few.

As for me I don't need ponying. I try to lead theway, or at least to find the trail on my own and point it out to those who need to know. However a beacon of hope can be very welcome.  Like my favourite hilltop tree.

The thing with being led is that sometimes the way passes beyond ones comfort zone. I took part last year in a training course that dragged me into a place that I did not want to visit. By now I've pieced together the lessons from that that experience. It was nothing that a horse could not have taught me: that the safe negotiation of life requires a dynamic equilibrium as one passes across diverse terrain  at a variety of paces. The lesson, perhaps, was to get on and transfer experience between the various fields of life.

A friend ponied me ahead today in how I think about a certain aspect of life. The details don't matter in this account. She pulled and I slithered splashing through the mud. This morning I imagined that I stood upon a plateau - and had already breathed a small sigh of relief. Then before evening another tricky stretch of trail appeared around the corner. The sort of path that is confusing to follow, with potential for surprise around each corner, and of course unmapped. A bit like a fairy tale where an ogre may appear to pose a challenge or a toad might prove to be a princess in disguise.

I recall a memorable early spring ride in the Carpathian mountains. I was exploring with just a horse and a dog for company, in deep woodland where snow lay knee-deep. Then I saw the tracks, each mark with a great big pad fronted by claw marks. My horse became nervous and the dog hid behind us both. Somewhere close-by a bear lurked. There was nothing for it but to follow the advice of that wartime poster: Keep Calm and Carry On. And walk on calmly we did - with a spring in our step. The peculiar thing was that up there in the familiar wilderness, even with a bear about, I was closer to my comfort zone than some moments during that training course at work last year.

So the lesson really is to transfer experience across. There are metaphorical bears about here. Bogs, rocks, precipices and ogres too. Especially the lattermost, posing tests and firing off questions to determine whether one may pass. Or be detained, wounded even. Unfair tests and awkward questions most often. The better one is, the more trying the challenge. No, there is nothing intrinsically fair about this troublesome trail. It isn't meant to be easy, and there isn't another way. The trick is to recognise the gate-keepers and shape-shifters that bar the path. I'll look out for the friendly toad if I remember. And I believe that the next high point really might provide an opportunity to rest and enjoy a lovely view. Yes, I believe that. I'll deserve it if I negotiate the next bit successfully. A little intuition guides me. How or why I do not know. A little inner wisdom? It's nice to flatter oneself. And I'd like to reach that metaphorical hilltop tree. But whether I shall recognise myself in the mirror by that point I do wonder.