I’ve been thinking in terms of the way in which we interpret the world around us. As humans we have become dependent upon our eyes. Often if we cannot see it, cannot touch it, we do not believe it exists. It is then only an idea, a theory, etc.
But what about the things which can be seen, if only we were able to see them? I’ve watched riders who are for or against something and as they are describing it I also witness them doing the very thing they are against. I don’t believe it is a genuine effort to be dishonest or misleading, but even with perfect vision we can only see what we choose to.
Does this mean too that the horse can be of equal intelligence and emotional development as people if only we become willing to see it? Does it mean that we can achieve anything we put our minds to if only we turn our eyes to see it?
Horsemanship is simple, almost easy. It is easy once you know it, but to know it you have to be able to see the simplicity of it, and to see the simplicity with ease you also have to travel the road of difficulty and ultimate frustration. Usually we get stuck in the difficulty, and with the powers of our reasoning we create excuses as to why horsemanship is not simple, why it is not achievable by everyone at the highest level. What if we all believed that horsemanship was only a mirror of our own development in life? What if life was simple, almost easy? What if life became easy once you knew it’s ease? Then you only had to understand the simplicity of life to experience the ease of it’s happiness; but to see the simplicity in an honest way you also have to travel the road of difficulty and ultimate frustration. But we usually get stuck in the difficulty and frustration of life and then give reason to it by finding excuses as to why life is difficult for everyone.
We are the blind leading the blind in that regard. Horses make a great mirror of our life. If horsemanship is difficult, so is life. If horsemanship is easy, life follows the same path – all of it. If we break horsemanship up into pieces – riding, caring, management, business, equestrian interactions, clients, students, friends, individual horses, competitions, etc. – and base the ease off of each one with some making it and others not, life will follow the same. We will be happy in some areas and not in others. The only difference between them is our own personal interpretation.