For thousands of years, horses had been the symbol of strength and natural power for humans from many different cultures. Horses appear as a companion or embodiment of gods in many places in human history. In certain appearances, horses were considered sacred and the connection to them was seen as a way to regain the lost unity with the forces of nature.
The horse as a sacred being and companion of the gods
Tacitus (a Roman historian from the first century AD) reports, for example, that the tribes living in Central Europe at this time, derived oracles from the snorting of white horses kept in sacred forests. The spirit of horses also has a special place in other shamanic cultures, e.g. in Siberia. The shaman was accompanied by a ghost horse to travel from the “human world” to the worlds of the dead, ghosts and gods. Back then, horses were seen as a way of entering a deep level of the genuine natural world and thereby gaining new perspectives and insights. Odin, an ancient Norse divine figure associated with shamanism as well as magic and wisdom, is depicted on Scandinavian picture stones with his horse and companion Sleipnir.
Animals as medicine
Gods, shamans or medicine people from many different cultures all over the world, were often depicted as a kind of hybrid of human and animal. In real life, too, shamans or priests dressed in animal masks or skins to emphasize their connection to the natural world and its power. The “training” of shamans often consisted of them being alone with nature for a long time and being “trained” by animals. According to many sources, it was then their task to accompany “unhealed” (incomplete) people in search of their forgotten or lost soul parts (the “true self”) into the other world (natural world) in order to become “healed” (whole) again. According to tradition, they were accompanied and supported by animals or animal spirits.
Horses as protection
Horse-headed carvings on house gables in northern Germany supposedly go back to the tradition that real horse heads used to be placed next to houses as a kind of protection. Why did people come up with the idea that horses in particular (not a predator) could have such a protective function? Horses seem to have had a special power over people even back then.
Horses “make” heroes
Myths such as those of the centaurs – hybrid creatures of horse and man – still bear witness to this special power, which was seen in the combination of horse and man. According to Greek mythology, the centaur Chiron not only brought healing (healing = becoming whole = reuniting the separated) to mankind. He also gave the knowledge of medicine to the Greek physician Asclepius. Still today Asclepius is considered a founder of medicine. Chiron was also the trainer of mythical heroes such as Jason, Achilles and Odysseus and gave his life for the liberation of Prometeus. Such mythical heroes often symbolize the (re)discovery, defence or protection of special values and treasures. This is expressed in classic plot lines for such heroic stories, such as the “finding of treasures” or the “killing of monsters”. This can also symbolize the inner journey to oneself as a human being, because there are also monsters to face and treasures to find.
In the history of mankind, horses have often made real “heroes” by allowing people to ride on their backs and thus making their strength available to humans. Horses often play a very special role in “heroic stories”. For example, tradition tells how Alexander the Great “tamed” his horse Bucephalus – by understanding it!
Only mutual respect creates a common force
In the work of Xenophon (Greek philosopher and writer) “On the Art of Riding”, which was written around 365 BC, it is repeatedly emphasized that understanding the nature of the horse (“Your horse is a reliable friend, not a slave!”) and respecting it (“Be mindful and take its needs into consideration!”) are of central importance. The tremendous esteem and respect behind these statements, at a time when the use of human slaves was commonplace and socially accepted normality, can hardly be imagined today. In fact, the “use of horses” by humans cannot be explained solely by constraint and submission by humans, as other, potentially rideable animal species did not allow this to happen to them. By making their fast legs and natural instincts available to humans, horses have given them a power and freedom that humans have unfortunately often not used wisely.
The charisma of strength and power
Many rulers had themselves buried together with their horses centuries ago and over the centuries many high-ranking personalities were depicted in art together with a horse. The interpretation that horses were simply an important and prestigious means of transportation back then is somehow incomplete. Nowadays, no high-ranking personality would want to be immortalized in a statue with an expensive car or share a grave with a car. You can simply buy a car, no matter how stupid and incompetent you are. A horse however is a different matter. No king, head of state or top manager can buy a self-confident horse as a friend at their side with any money in the world or force it with any power. You have to work for it – and you have to be able to! Because horses are not buyable like a car, but rather they mercilessly reveal the truth about the nature of the relationship with their rider! In the interaction between rider and horse, a knowledgeable observer will always be able to recognize the inner values, skills and abilities of a person and see who cannot and who cannot.
Like no other creature, the horse represents the two extremes of man’s relationship with nature. It stands for making the original free power of nature available to humans, but like nature itself, it has also often been brutally enslaved and abused and exploited in the service of humans.
The horse as a strong support in coaching
The horse knows the souls of humans from thousands of years of shared history. This is perhaps the reason why – unlike many other free animals – it is able to look into people’s souls without fear, even if they are suffering and carrying emotionally unpleasant burdens. And it is willing to communicate with us and it can show to us what we are missing and how we can find it again. Horses (unlike many humans) have the power to remain connected to their original nature despite their “domestication”, so that they can survive independently in nature and become free wild horses again when they leave the world and care of humans.
Horses can thus help people to rediscover the connection to our original nature and to the lost part of ourselves. They can be a great support in reconnecting with our authentic “true self”. In this way, they can still help us today to find strength for the protection and defence of “special values” and show us a way to rediscover an “inner treasure”.
