- Horses are recognised as the archetypes of Power and Freedom. From a mythical aspect they create great mystery within the depths of ones psyche. They embody elegance, grace, strength, passion and can fill a person with a sense of awe. Just to stand and watch a pair of horses running free in a field is to have time stand still. It doesn’t matter what background you come from, they will absolutely enthral you and bring you immediately into the present moment.
- Horses are also vulnerable prey animals and as such they are and need to be, highly sensitive. They speak the language of energy and body. When horses run from a predator they do not scatter. The herd sticks together moving as one, much like a flock of birds or a school of fish. They look synchronized each aware of each other’s physical boundaries and communicating silently through their energetic bodies. Their response time is fast, the fastest reaction time of any domestic animal. The herd also take special care of their most vulnerable member, be it the youngest foal, the oldest horse or the sickest horse.
- Again because horses are prey animals. They must be instantly aware of changes of stance, arousal levels and energy shifts within the herd. They also have the ability to see through the slightest incongruities of emotion and intention. For them just to live and survive they have the ability to shift from being in a state of “alertness”, “fleeing” to going back to “grazing” or to just “being”.
- Horses are social creatures who readily and honestly respond to the challenges inherent in forming and sustaining relationships. They have also retained a highly developed ability to sense changes in the stance and arousal levels of other herd members, an ability they easily transfer to interactions with human beings. When we are in their presence they can offer us instant “feedback” as to our intent, degree of presence, consciousness, arousal, congruence and energy level. Horses see through the slightest incongruities of emotion and intention, yet they are exceedingly patient and forgiving.
- Horses also model the strengths of what are often referred to as “feminine values “: cooperation over competition, relationship over territory, responsiveness over strategy, emotion and intuition over logic, process over goal, and the creative approach to life that these qualities engender. (Taken from The Tao of Equus, Linda Kohanov).
