The world is a crazy place. It can be a dangerous and frightening place. It is fast paced, throw away, with little compassion out there. With many living and working in uncompassionate environments. Struggling to be heard and understood. Unethical pressures and practices. All souls can and do struggle in a world that commoditizes just about everything and everyone. A value and price on all our souls. Life is fragile and for some limited. Love is often with conditions attached. Friendships for what we can do or give. The impact of egos and agendas who trample over others to climb the ladder. The equine world is not an easy place. Humans experience infighting, division, unpleasantness, cliques, bullying, isolation, judgement, criticism and more. Anything outside the mainstream is often a target for ridicule. Have you experienced any of this?

For many horses this is their reality. The human world crashes into the horse’s world with human agendas and desires. How humbling this is when we consider how hard horses try to understand us and the gifts they give us. Our horses provide us with the opportunity to connect to what matters. However we are often blind to these gifts as we are hung up on our agendas, traditional thinking or cultural beliefs.

The non ridden equine may represent the very essence of the good, bad and ugly of the horse world. There are the lucky ones loved unconditionally, cherished and live lives well cared for with all their needs met. In a world in love with riding many non ridden equines are seen to have little or no value in a world that commoditizes and values them on what a horse can do or give. They are often moved on with the truth hidden. Or given away or free into an uncertain future. Some enter the dark underbelly of the equine world, and are sold from noisy auction to auction and enter a downward spiral. Moved from place to place. Some are abandoned. Plenty live in the shadows with poor care or are neglected. Welfare organisations try their best to rescue as many of these souls as they can. The truth is many have no loving guardians. These souls see the bad and ugly side of the equine world.

Yet a horse without a riding agenda asks us to see the world side by side. It is far easier to step into their world when we are not on their back with a human agenda. I am not anti-riding. Permissive riding is truly an amazing experience. Simply I see there is more to a horse than riding. Side by side there are opportunities to go into their world.

Thoughts to ponder….To connect into their world? To experience what matters to them? To feel what gives them peace, safety, and stability? Or to step off from doing and just be in their world? What would this do for you? What would be the benefits?