Way of the Horse: Point of View

Way of the Horse, Kohanov

As prey animals, horses are always on the alert. Today's card from Way of the Horse, by Linda Kohanov, shows two horses who have been grazing suddenly looking around, clearly on the alert and ready to make adjustments to their actions instantaneously.

It certainly doesn't pay for a horse to be in denial about the present moment. What would happen to a horse who kept its head down and thought to itself, 'Oh, it's just my imagination. Oh, I'm probably overreacting. I don't want to make a scene.' It wouldn't last long! Similarly, a horse will react to a stimulus, and can quickly assess the true danger in a situation. If nothing's wrong, they calmly go back into the moment and continue to graze, with no paranoia or racing thoughts,' Oh, what if I was wrong? Oh, what if something is really out there? I knew this was going to happen, I knew today was going to be one of those days!'


The key words for this card are: Discernment, Constructive Comparison, and Grounded Ambition.

'Authentic discernment notices what is happening,' writes Kohanov. 'It evaluates what's going well and what can be improved. It looks for others who model what we hope to achieve without trying to copy their every move. And it assesses what path we should take next.'

This is an apt card for me to draw today, as I have a session with my counsellor, and we do talk a lot about present moment living. (I have a tendency to overthink!)  I'm taking my Your Incredible Year Workbook 2013 to share with her, because I believe it is very helpful in getting a clear view of the present moment and deciding what path to take next.

The horses in the image are not merely keeping watch for predators, ready to fly at the least startle. They are actually fully present in the moment, enjoying the beautiful blue sky, the tender grass, and also fully aware of their surroundings and the reality of their current situation.

We could learn a lot from horses. Let's all keep our ears up today. Our ears up, hooves firmly on the ground, sun shining on our backs, wind in the mane, nose in the air. Wahoo!