Throughout history the horse has been given almost mystical powers. Books, poems, songs, and statues all attest to their power to influence our lives. Anyone who has ever spent much time around them can relate some special moment where a horse has had a significant impact on their lives.
And, they aren’t just for riding anymore. Programs like NARHA use horses to aid handicap riders of all ages in physical and mental therapy. There is even a whole industry where horses are used by psychologist and psychiatrists in various therapies with dramatic results. I suppose Winston Churchill summed it up best. “The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.”
I started thinking and began asking a lot of questions. What is it about the horses that cause them to possess these “mystical” powers? Did the creator bestow on them some divine trait beyond all human understanding? What caused the horse to become an almost supernatural being? What were the attributes of this wild animal that have been unchanged throughout history? Why them and not humans?
So, I started really observing what the horses were doing everyday. I wanted to try and define these traits that created the mystical power and see if there was a way to introduce them into the human world. After years of working with them, here are a few of the “mystical” traits that I discovered.
Absolute Honesty– Horses cannot lie. They are absolute evaluators of the situation, and they act accordingly. If they are afraid they let you know immediately. Their honesty is so absolute that it allows others around them to make decisions based on absolutes not agendas. What others do and how they react is irrelevant. Their honesty is not meant to hurt or please. It is simply a reaction to what is presented at the moment. To them the moment is all that matters. And to them, honesty is a two way street. They only get honesty back as well.
Authentic Barometers – They have the ability to see what really is in each other. You really can’t fool a horse. Maybe because they are honest.
Horses do not hold a grudge– Only people do that. Horses can have very violent disputes and be seen grazing next to each other moments later.
Horses earn trust from each other and in turn learn to trust. – It is how they have survived.
Absolute Communicators– Horses have an acute sense of communication and 95% of that communication is non-verbal.
Living in the Moment– Everything is about now.
24-7 job– These traits are part of their beings 24-7. They never take a break. They live their lives in this mode.
Planning– Horses do not plan for the future. Instead they prepare for it by honing their living skills.
Significant Importance– To the horse this life style is a matter of significant importance. It is about survival. Because these traits are so much a part of who they are, they are able to achieve such powerful results.
Culture – All of these traits are part of the equine culture – a shared vsion that is acted upon. Everyone not only believes it, they also act up[on it every day.
Are these traits available only to the horses? No. They are actually present in all of us. Then if they are present in us all then why don’t humans posses such “mystical” power? The answer is quite simple. To the horses these traits are an absolute part of their very existence and not something that they are about on a part time basis. Over millions of years of the upward climb from cold mud to warm man humans have developed the skill of hidden agendas, spun communication half truths and no trust. An honest person today is often the exception not the rule.
So, the power is not found in possessing these traits. The real power lies in the ability to use them consistently as a part of out everyday existence.
So, what would be the results if we applied and used the same simple basic principals that have given the mystical powers to the horse to our personal and professional lives? What would our world look like then? What would happen to Washington D.C.? One can only imagine.
Funny isn’t it? With all of our education and our evolution we still look to a simple horse to show the way. Just a thought!
Don Hutson
July, 2010
Source: Don Hutson
