trust your horses!

sometimes a thought keeps nudging in your head, not strong enough to crystalize but persistently flashes while you are walking, traveling or gazing around. This has been one such thing for more than a month catalyzed by the few days of horseback mountain in the mesmerizing valleys of Kashmir. It is rightly called as ‘jannat’ / heaven on earth.

We have been always told to holding our horses, one of the interpretations is slowing down while rushing away with conclusions or hurrying through the decisions in a seemingly easier context or flying away on a smooth surface.

In real life, neither the issues remain one-dimensional, nor they come on a smooth surface. During the days of horse back mountain rides were nothing short of physical hardship, racing heartbeats worser than those monstrous roller coasters thundering down albeit these horses were slow and steady, and screams filled with fears.

Horsemen were calm, walking some distance ahead, just shouted ‘trust your horses’, he/she knows the way, they can sense danger, got the instincts of which path to choose. More than a few times, our horses went to the corner of the cliff, stepped in to seemingly steeper (easily above 1:8 slope) paths taking a longer step at times or just taking a breath closer to the edge of the cliffs.? What did the horse know of my perspirations in a chill 8-12 degrees Celsius, but the horses knew, they trusted their instincts were making progress as they seemed fit and trudged on the path, they were confident to progress. There were times they did trip, bending one of the knees, yet had a firm grip with the other leg to regaining the balance in a fraction, progressing with the next step.

During these few days, a couple of skills I was taught by the experienced horsemen, #leanforward grabbing the saddle horn when the horse is climbing steep hill and #leanbackward while the horse is going downhill. Do not look down during downhill. Most important lesson though, ‘Ghode pe barosa rakh, usko pata hai’ #Trustyourhorse – he/she knows.

Our journey is never going to be a polished racetrack but riddled with the Rocky Mountains and slippery slopes filled with rain-soaked cliffs. It is ok to feel the fear, ok to let out that scream, ok to shuffle around the saddle backward and forward, totally fine to take a breather, moments of self-doubt cross your mind, however remember to always #trustyourhorses, #believeinyourinstincts. #keepmoving #ganbatte. #donothold