What is ritual? It doesn’t need to be as complex as what we typically make it out to be. Ritual isn’t sitting in meditation in a hut in Bali in the perfect yoga pose with sage burning, no, ritual can be as simple as having a morning coffee on your favourite chair.
Yesterday I was reminded of the importance of ritual with our horses. My beautiful gelding, Sindom suffers from Itch and at present his symptoms require daily management with a beautiful and effective Itch Cream from The Graceful Equine (more about that in another blog!). Here I was, just on dusk applying this gorgeous cream when he leant in, clearly enjoying the process. See, I had run out of cream a few days prior and so what stood out to me so clearly in this moment was how much he enjoyed our daily ritual. Was he possibly enjoying the actual scratches he was getting through the application of the cream? Possibly. Regardless, it was a light bulb moment for me and created an all consuming thought pattern that has inspired me to write this for you now.
Even the daily feeding of our horses is a ritual and so I encourage you to find mindfulness in these moments. Like us, our equine friends find comfort in daily rituals. It shows them we are consistent, reliable and promotes a sense of belonging, a calmness if you will. Bear with me as I try to describe the softness I felt emanating from Sindom in this moment, a shift or expansion into an emotional space I hadn’t yet found with him. It is as if he was reminded of the connection we share in those moments and to me it felt as though he had found a sense of belonging.
Our horses ebb and flow with the movement of the day, the cycle of the seasons and the lunar influences. They are far more emotional and intelligent than we tend to give them credit for. Being able to show up for our horses, in mindfulness via a daily ritual can have such a profound shift in our
relationships with them.
Another example I am reminded of with my herd was during our last winter where I fed twice a day. It was quite a wet season for us (wasn’t everyone affected by all that rain and flooding!?) This daily ritual of feeding morning and night had them feeling so safe and comfortable that whenever they saw me coming they would immediately begin to walk towards their gate. This meant that on several occasions when water had risen quickly and a paddock change was necessary to protect them from potential flooding I was able to very efficiently move them regardless of what time I appeared simply by opening a gate. (Often this realization occurred late at night and in the pouring rain!)
Now, I don’t always get it right. There are days where I am rushing, mindless, or distracted. But I do want to point out that when I attend my paddock for the most part I try to have a sense of mindfulness. Even if all I am capable of is a soft word or a gentle touch here or there or an awareness of someone NOT wanting to be touched (I have Mares and we all know what its like at cycle time!)
So, I encourage you to find some daily ritual that you and your horse can enjoy together. Perhaps you will get more out of it than you may yet realise and I would absolutely love to see what you come up with in the comments below.
Jess x
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