“My treasures do not clink together or glitter; They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night.”
-Arabian Proverb
I Call You Horse6/1/2021 Allah once spoke with the southward wind, "I want to make a creature out of you." The wind abided and gathered spirit from the north, strength from the south, speed from the east and intelligence from the west and condensed them into a raging storm. Allah leashed the whipping winds and tamed them into a wild creature. He spoke: "I call you Horse; I make you Arabian and I give you the chestnut color of the ant; I have hung happiness from the forelock which hangs between your eyes; You shall be the Lord of other animals; Men shall follow you wherever you go; You shall be as good for flight as for pursuit; You shall fly without wings; Riches shall be on your back; Fortune shall come through your meditation." Somewhere down the line of equid's rich history, the Arabian horse made its way into the Americas. Bred for war and celebrated for its beauty, the Arabian became a living art exhibit. They told tales of a land far, far away where not many animals survived and less men dared to travel; a land known for its fine palaces as well as its fierce swordsmen. They told of the riches and of the poors and of the journeys their ancestors travelled across the deadly land. They painted pictures of desolate sand dunes and their forgotten footprints, sprinkled with stories of precious jewels and priceless gold. These horses were proof of life beyond the sea and life beyond what we know today. My own story about the Arabian horse began not long after I came into this world. I was 11 when I was gifted my very first desert horse. She was small, brave and grey with red flea bites. A large blood spot placed just off-center of her forehead stood her apart from any other horse I had ever seen. We grew up together in the gentle mountains of Virginia. She became my closest confident and I became her safest ally. Together, we formed a relationship that would bloom into much more than what would be expected from a girl and a horse. Every once in a lifetime, if you're lucky enough, you come across a piece of your soul hidden somewhere on this earth. At such a young age, I had found that missing piece tied to a trailer and screaming her head off. She was spunkier than the rest. In fact, she was a fiery ball of chaos that my parents threatened to sell more times than once. I quickly made friends with the ground. Any day I could walk away from without gravel in my pants was a good day. She wasn't a bad horse, she was just a hyper-aware horse who constantly surveyed her surroundings and hauled ass at the first sight of anything strange, which is actually a lovely little Arabian trait. Despite the broken bones, broken spirits and broken fences, that little horse terrorized her way into my heart. Partly encouraged through trauma, I learned all of her movements and signals --and such subtle, quiet signals they were. One signal would start with her ears. Whichever way her ears would flicker was most likely not the direction the rest of her body was about to burst into. She was quick, so you had mere seconds to change her track of thought before you were whisked away. This pony forced me to grow as an equestrian. She was no "push-button" ride that you sat on and directed where to go. She was no sure-footed creature who would catch you when your sense of balance left you. She was a puzzle that left me endlessly exhausted and coming back for more. She forced me to look at horses in a new light and see them for the wonderfully simple yet complex creatures they are. We celebrated her 22nd birthday this past May. I have officially known her for more than half of my life and I will never be able to repay her for all of the things she has done for me. She is and always has been the reason behind everything I do. She was my first taste of the wonderous Arabian horse. She made me fall in love with the personalities and energies of the breed. She inspired me to become a better equestrian and a more understanding human. She taught me to love the things that frighten me and to forgive the things that make no sense. She showed me the true spirit and love of the Arabian horse. Even more so, she gave me a passion and a meaning and a thesis; a hypothesis that we can and should do better to our horses and for our horses. We can re-imagine the horse the way Allah had intended --as a creature worth honoring with the same respect we seek as humans. For centuries, the horse has been one of the most misunderstood animals in domestication. It is time we re-evaluate their role in society and redefine what it means to be an equestrian.
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Leave a Reply.About CassidyCassidy Payne is a lifelong equestrian and animal welfare activist. With over 16 years of experience in the equine industry, Cassidy is retired from competing on multiple levels, from A-rated shows to local schooling shows. She is now focusing her efforts on training her horses with the Principles of Learning Theory in Equitation. Archives
March 2023
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Photos used under Creative Commons from NathalieSt, mikecogh, Joanne Goldby