Of Equality, Fairness, and the Stoicism of Horses

It’s been hard to find good chunks of time to spend with Jigs the last few weeks. Work and just life in general keep getting in the way. I’m expecting more of the same next month.

I’m not complaining. In this economy I’m grateful to be working. And the other stuff is just stuff. You get through it.

Yesterday we loaded up the trailer and attended a ride at my favorite place- Goddard State Park in Warwick, RI. The footing and the scenery were fabulous. It was hot but given the past winter, no one is complaining. Not even Jigs, though he was wet from the humidity.

Jig’s coat has shed out and he is the color of a shinny penny. When the sun is just right, he has a metallic sheen that makes his muscles look like they are rippling. He’s handsome and he knows it.

Makes me think about herd order and how horses accept that order exists. Yes they will challenge their place in the order, but never the existence of the order.

Humans both accept the existence of the order and challenge it. We so want to believe in equality. It is a noble thing after all. But at the same time reality confronts us with inequality. Where ever we look, it is there.  We are born with different abilities, to different circumstances.

Or am I confusing equality with fairness?  Is that it?

I remember my mother’s mantra, “life isn’t fair.” I quoted it to my own kids. Yesterday I caught myself saying it to my grandson.

Well, it isn’t.

Things just happen. Bad guys do get away with their crimes. Good people get sick. Kindness is not always repaid in kind.

Horses don’t worry about these things. They just accept what is.

Jigs knows he’s handsome.

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