Hovering Lightly and Burning Brightly

(© 2018 Kip Mistral. Illustration “Holiday Time” by Heywood Hardy [1842-1933])

I dreamed this morning, literally, that I am wandering through a busy outdoor market. It is an old country market with much tradition, animals and all kinds of rustic things for sale by generations of people who know each other. They are friendly and chatty, and I find myself talking to many women who have spent a lifetime with horses. They all have different stories about their experience and I am struck with the richness of their memories. Naturally, being a journalist I start thinking what a fabulous article it would make to bring these conversations together in one place, woven together in a sort of tapestry.

I meet a final horsewoman and begin telling her about all these different women. She has an air of command, and shakes her head and interrupts me. “There is only one horsemanship,” she states firmly. “It is hovering lightly and burning brightly.”

With that I awoke and pondered for a moment. To hover is to suspend something. A beautiful light equitation and the relationship of equals allows the brilliance of the horse and rider partnership to come through. Lighten your seat, hover a little in your mind and your weight, and then your horse can float. Lighten your everything and then “we” can burn bright.

That’s what “hovering lightly and burning brightly” means to me. What does it mean to you? Please comment…