Part of nurturing the human-animal bond is incorporating the wisdom that these creatures share with us into our systems of holistic spiritual care. Remembering that holistic spiritual care is care for the whole being, all aspects and on all levels, then we can begin to look around us at the natural world and see how animals are caring for themselves both within and outside of human-constructed systems to see what wisdom we might take in order to improve the ways in which we care for ourselves.
Horses, like many animals that share our lives, are glorious messengers. They have adapted to live alongside humans, though they do thrive in an environment where they can control their cycles and patterns of behavior. I won’t say “natural” because even if we look at the wild horses that live in parts of the American West, they still have to live with and often among humans. We still influence their environment through roundups, holding facilities, and even allowing ranchers to graze cattle alongside them which causes damage to the ecosystems. There are very few places, if any, left on this planet that are completely untouched by human activity, which means that to some extent, even our “wildlife” has to live with us and we in harmony with them.
Horses have captured people’s imaginations for a very long time. They seem majestic, magical, and because they have shared our lives for several centuries, seem to have adopted well to communicating with humans. They’ve had to if they wanted to get their needs known.
The ways in which I incorporate horse wisdom into my work are twofold. First, I share the wisdom that my sacred herd provides to me. I also have horse oracle cards that I use, both as a singular activity, but also with the herd, to help direct that wisdom. Secondly, horses provide a mirror through which we can look at our own behaviors, or the way we perceive behaviors of others around us, and see how humans have made constructs or created artificial boundaries. Horses are good at speaking their mind. Within the herd dynamic, something as subtle as the flick of an ear or the swish of a tail, can convey loads of meaning, and so in inviting them into conversation, we listen to what they have to say and also learn how to communicate our needs better as well.
The most important part of inviting horse wisdom into this sacred conversation is consent. We cannot force our will on them, anymore than we can force them to talk to us. Instead, we must ask their permission, follow where they lead, and not see them as some kind of mystical being we can extract knowledge from. That is the true meaning of horse wisdom and the most important part of spiritual care–consent.
