22 / Sport and Trail Magazine
As I recently presented “The Art of Horsemanship” at the biggest expo on the east coast, my time, like the event, filled with too much busyness. My schedule was sliced so thin it only had one side. Pre-event workload involved the planning, preparing, and packing of the horses going with all their gear. Along with that, we needed practice sessions for the evening performances, and costumes, and choreographed music. Add the endlessly dreary paperwork trail—the liability releases, schedules for speaking, booth rules and regulations (did I mention all the booth materials and props had to be packed too), and speaking topics that have to be readied and considered. Bloomin’ burdocks, those moments completely overran my life and consumed my time. Now, I do enjoy it, but there is a real battle through these man-made woods I create for myself, to keep myself peaceful and centered through all the conversations, the critiques, the problems, while keeping everybody moving forward—not just solving horse problems, but solving people problems…hello, we’re dealing with people; the drama meter is active.
The expos are very exciting, as long as there’s an end to them. The best moment is when I leave the event and drive home.
Home to my woods. In the woods with my horse.
Where is your solace and reward for all that you contend with in a day? I prefer to acknowledge the trees that I ride past as the faces of familiar friends, the brooks and hills along the trail as their cozy living room spaces. I find peace as I ride deep into the heart of the woods. In the heart of the woods, atop my horse, I find a refuge for the heart.
In talkin’ ‘bout the heart, I’m not talking about the organ that pumps blood. I’m talking about a happy heart being the medicine for your life.
Why is the world so doggone peaceful from the back of a horse?
Do the neighbors ever catch you whistling or singing on the trail? “Robert, who the heck is killin’ the cat?”
Riding the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. What is it about the horse that is so good for the inside of us? Some days life holds us down like a cat gettin’ flea dipped—until we can saddle our horse and ride out that is. What is impossible to understand is how we suddenly find ourselves centered. We arrive back at the stable refreshed and at peace with the world. How’d that happen? It’s because our horses require us to let the day’s ‘business’ go in order to ride them. Talk about an unspoken treaty…
Our hearts need to be filled with great things from great people. Instead we encounter those who make us say, “Why are there more horse’s butts than horses?” The season we are in right now commands everyone’s attention. The moment strikes a chord in us; a strong desire to have our hearts lifted up above the grind. We are fortunate that our horses bravely carry us to that place, they connect us with our hearts everyday.
Continued / Jeff Wilson Cowboy Dressage
The gait of a horse soothes the beating of your own heart.