Cowgirl Yoga: Horse History

The horse can take you back to a place where you work with, and trust, your instincts. These days, humans know more and more, but they feel less and less. The horse was here on earth a long time before us. You can tell that he knows, he's much older than us. So the horse is, for me, a philosopher. They are far wiser than humans.

I don't ride much in the winter, but I still had a hard time with the idea of not seeing the horses for so long when we left for London. Now, we are exactly halfway through this London gig...I'm looking forward to enjoying the next three months here, but my heart does beat a bit faster when I think of seeing the Cowgirl Yoga herd again, including my sweet Dude Boy.

But, horses have turned up in ways I didn't expect over here. OK, so not the living breathing ones so much, but the historical horse. It's made me ponder the timelessness of the horse-human connection, and what an ancient relationship we engage in when we spend time with horses. This dance has been done many times before. And after making horses such a big part of my life when we moved to Montana, I notice things I didn't before. It's not just another horse statue or painting (yawn); it's a part of the past that I can truly relate to. Just as my relationship with horses has awakened so many emotions, it has heightened my appreciation of horses in history. Husband had to practically drag me away from these bronze horses in Venice. They date back to the second or third century AD, and were installed on San Marco's facade in the late 13th, where they remained until the late 80's when they were restored, put inside, and replaced with bronze replicas. I could understand why 5 year old wanted to sit down in front of George Stubb's 18th century painting Whistlejacket at the London National Gallery, and draw it herself. And this past weekend at the Tower of London, husband once again had to nudge me forward as I imagined the horses of English monarchs, while checking out the Line of Kings: 17th century painted wooden horses that once held their suits-of-armor.