Life could well be described as tense right now, under the new dispensation, the new norm, as the powers that be like to call it. Even though there is nothing normal about it. Life is now abnormal, stressed and fraught with uncertainty about the future. This is the time when we call upon any and all resources available to stay sane. I personally have my four-legged companions to cheer me up.
Meet Antares, who is a fine young horse. People like to call the dog our best friend, but a horse is equally practical, in a different way of course. And Antares is like a fine white steed for a lone ranger like me. Amazingly I have heard that horses have a massive heart with the capacity to send out a large frequency or resonance, much bigger than a human’s.
Our four-legged friends are deeply feeling creatures and although the horse is not as demonstrative as a dog might be, horses still feel just as much and develop relationships with us. Now during our historic time of stress under the medical tyranny of 2020, it helps me tremendously to have Antares relaxing in the field just outside.
Like dogs, they love to be fed, and are won over by good feeding. It’s called “cupboard love” by some mothers. They only love you because you feed them. Well that may be true, but from there the relationship grows, and blossoms.
Few of us in our city environments are familiar with having a horse as a pet. So I consider myself particularly lucky. Antares does not belong to me, but I share the field in which he lives, so I get to hang out with him. Horses are social and don’t ever live alone, so he has another horse in the field as company.
No one rides them, and they are free range, free to roam about all day long. Seeing Antares daily has endeared him to me, and he loves to come to the window for a little snack sometimes. I give him some vegetable and fruit pieces on occasion. In times of trouble, like a fuel shortage, a horse is a crucial companion.
It’s only in modern times that the horse became somewhat redundant, as the automobile took their place for transport. Cars now run where horses used to carry us. A person was incomplete without their horse in earlier times, either to ride or to pull the buggy or cart. We made our advancement as a society on the backs of the horse.
Military leaders would be incomplete without their horse too. Wars and battles in earlier times depended on the horse power. So the horse has always been our best companion. The dog only took over as primary domestic animal when the horse was superseded by technology. Nevertheless, I am still most respectful toward the fine steeds like Antares.
Antares is a noble creature with great power. Who in today’s society has even spent time with a live horse. We just don’t see them any more in our modern city lifestyle. But Antares is like a friend to me, much like you might have your pet dog. And his power and beauty remind me to remain respectful of nature, and of all life. I would never eat my friend Antares, and in the same way I would never eat any four-legged conscious creature.
It makes sense to have continuity of insight or realization. If you find it unsavory to think of eating your pet dog, then naturally any philosopher can follow the logic that all our four-legged creatures are to be respected. Cows and sheep also feel pain and want to live. They are all of equal value to my logical brain and my feeling heart.
Therefore I request you all to please think of the four-legged creatures of the earth as our friends, and friends don’t let friends eat friends. I can’t see it any other way.
(photos my own)