The horse is a symbol of the wilderness. Picture their regal stature in your mind’s eye…wild horses careening over the crest of a hill, a pony in a faraway field, or the strength of a horse as it beats its hooves against a stone path toward its destination.
The horse arrives in present-day from a journey of 50 million years of evolution. We tamed some horses while some remained wild. Horses have worked in partnerships with human beings in travel, war, agriculture, and labor. The horse knows us across the barren, the lush, and the in-between of history.
Horses pierce the veil of folklore and of our collective conscious. They gallop across the pages of our sacred texts and myths.
Horses in Mythology and Ancient Texts
There is the archetypal horse in the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These horses are black, red, white, and pale. The black horse and his companion symbolize famine. The red horse travels with the creator of war, a white horse is symbolic of conquest, and the pale horse is ridden by death accompanied by Hades.
Rhiannon, the Welsh Goddess, and Witch is the Goddess of the moon, horses, horseshoes, and birds. She is often seen in images on the back of a white horse.
The Norse God Odin travels on the back of an eight-legged steed named Sleipnir who is described in the Poetic Edda.
Epona is the Celtic and Roman Goddess of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules, and was known to protect them. She is often depicted with grains and foals.
Messages from the Horse
The horse appears to remind us of our own inner strength. This is not brute strength, but rather a steady strength. The horse knows how to tap into its inner resilience to move swiftly across the mountain. The horse asks us to know ourselves capable and to not delay in action.
The symbol of the horse may come to us in a moment of mystery. Quick across a field, a horse appears to remind us to tap into the mystery in our life. What is calling to us from the hooves of the horse? Gaze into a horse’s eye under its forelock and you’ll know the depth of this symbol. Much like the Unicorn, a horse knows that life is sweeter when mystery is savored.
On the back of the horse, the knight is able to slay the dragon. The Horse is the vehicle for facing down fear. The horse knows the importance of fear, and the importance of the next evolution on the other side of fear.
“Where in your life do you feel restrained?” horse arrives to ask us. The horse knows what true freedom, expression, and authenticity feel like. They embody it with each step they take, demonstrating extreme presence. How in your life can you break free of restraints (societal, familial, self-imposed) and what exists beyond the walls of what you’ve known?
Change is scary, but not changing is even more frightening. Ride horse’s back on your way to freedom.
