Between a scarlet sunset and the rise of a full honeyed moon, the horses danced. Bellies full after an evening feed, they rolled, scrambled to their feet, shook and shuddered with the delicious delight of knowing that they had everything they needed for now.
I watched them canter across the hill, tails flying in the final flare of light. They bounced and leapt at each other, synchronising neck and shoulders and quarters, bending and releasing. I was transported to a time more than twenty years ago, when my simple arrival would trigger a burst of balletic performance, and it made me weep to see them repeating their old moves.
Now in their senior years, they are more cautious as they move, often preferring to conserve energy rather than expend it. The timing of their burst was symbolic. It came after a period of darkness and uncertainty. It came on the evening of the equinox, when the last day of summer ripens into autumn, when day and night harmonise in length. Within the music of their dance was a message: we are full; we are complete. We are joyful.
The worry, the fear, the desolation of the past few weeks dropped away as I watched them. As the year bends towards darkness, it is tempting to cling to the light; the presence of the fading sun and the rising moon simultaneously showed me contrasting kinds of light. There is the blaze, the burn, the wild spirit that fires us into action, and there is the cool, the quiet, the gentle candle glow that sustains us when we turn inward.
At dawn, I woke to a message from someone dear who has known despair and who found hope this week in the presence of the horses. She knows them well enough to discern what is projection and what is truly valuable. She wrote that she felt blessed in having the horses as part of her life.
Between the sun and the moon, the day moves evenly balanced and it is a reminder to remain in equilibrium. To feel blessed is to experience radical gratitude. Moments of rapture rise when we least expect. The huge presence of horses in my life and the lives of all those they have supported and continue to support is a blessing beyond measure.
