So much has been written about me in the last week, and will be written about my tribe of equines in the near future. Concerned about my welfare and that of members of my society, humans are all up in arms today, worried–ranting and reporting–bout our welfare.
And we appreciate that–really, we do.
But it strikes us that the problem really is more complicated than the media would have us believe:
* Everyone’s acting like this is a revelation, that allegedly, a horse trainer did bad things to members of my tribe.
* Everyone’s acting like allegations such as these happen only in Thoroughbred racing.
* Every time something like this happens, humans get all fuss-and-feathers, and start squawking that this is a “wake-up call,” as if it’s the first time anyone has heard of anything like it.
* Horse racing is not the only sport that uses members of my equine tribe, and yet it’s been singled out as being satan, incarnate. YES, the sport IS in dire need of fixing. You humans have GOT to get your act together, and put us–noting but us–first and foremost. Otherwise, all this ridiculous, political infighting will keep men in blue suits rich and us, unprotected.
* We haven’t heard about an expose in any major newspaper “busting wide open” the disgusting, evil practice of soring.
* And the “New York Times” has printed several articles that side with the New York City horse carriage trade.
From our perspective–this is wildly inconsistent. Either you care about the welfare of ALL we horses–or you don’t. Either the “Times” is a real newspaper–or it has an agenda far-deeper than exposing horse abuse. And that agenda, itself, should be investigated. Is the “Times” receiving money from some politician who hates horse racing? Does the paper need simply to sell more rags?
And I’m thinking that horse carriage drivers don’t dine in five-star restaurants, so the perks of investigating them aren’t as cool as hanging with Thoroughbred trainers. (The “Times” does a lot of citing of veterinarians and quotes by carriage drivers who lament the possible loss of their careers and their lifestyles. Hmmmm…)
It’s obvious to us that you humans can’t decide which horse welfare causes are worthy of your time, and which can be swept under the rug. Your priorities are as messed up as your human society, itself.
So I have decided that the time had come for me to tell you about myself, and about members of my tribe. Clearly, you people need some education. And you need to realize that the American attitude about horse welfare for ALL horses must be changed, or nothing will change, at all…
Several years ago, a character in a movie proclaimed, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
This has been our problem all along. Well, no, sorry–let me correct myself. This has been our problem–between your tribe and mine–for less than 100 years. During the last 100 years, members of your tribe have discovered, created or otherwise presented to the world some pretty remarkable stuff: spaceships. Music boxes that are 1″ long, and can hold 500 songs. Land vehicles that run on electricity.
Everywhere one looks, there’s apparent evidence that your tribe is making life faster, more efficient and more easily-navigated. Life on this planet seems to be much happier for many members of your tribe, than it was just 100 years ago.
But here’s the problem, as I perceive it: all this ease of performing even the most mundane tasks in life has made your tribe arrogant. I’d say that you’re complacent, but that would indicate an unwillingness on your part to change the status quo. Let’s say that you’re complacent in that you like being on top. The Boss. Known for being the smartest tribe.
That’s arrogant. Perhaps the best way to describe the pinnacle where you sit is to say that you’re species-centric. Your tribe has made all that you can see, so you think that you own the right to dictate the present and the future of the entire world.
Ironically, all that you’ve created is simply a layer on top of all that my Creator created.
You’ve covered the Earth with buildings and vehicles made of steel, plastic and other materials that sprang forth from the brains that God gave you. And that’s great, in one sense, because in using those brains and creating–you are, in fact, a reflection of God’s very own creativity.
Kudos to you and your tribe.
Unfortunately, the majority of you don’t recognize the Source of your creativity–somehow you think you landed on this planet, solo. You think anything you create, discover or otherwise present to the world is the result of your own ability to think.
Not only is that arrogant, it’s silly.
Another problem with your tribe–in my humble opinion–is that your tribe thinks it can own members of my tribe. Many of us are on loan to you from the Almighty, but make no mistake–you cannot own us, anymore than you can own the air, or the oceans.
We are entrusted to you–and how you treat us is indicative of the conditions of your souls.
A third problem with your tribe is that too many of you think that members of my tribe are unfeeling. That we’re not sentient, intelligent or wise.
Somehow, too many members of your tribe think that you’re the only thinking, feeling, loving, hating species on the planet.
It is precisely this centrism that will cause your downfall. Maybe not today–perhaps not next month–but hubris (fatal pride) long has been the ticket to toppling your societies. Your own ancient Greek tragedians wrote extensively about hubris, and the result of constant self-reference.
So many of your tribe (or species, if you will) think that, simply because my community is most comfortable in herds–that we cannot think for ourselves as individuals.
That we don’t grieve or love.
That we’re not capable of rage, or humor.
Only an idiot would think that, but apparently there are many idiots in your tribe, because people–again, some who think they own us, or “train” us if we don’t want to be trained–feel free to put toxic chemicals into us.
Chemicals that will make us perform “better”–better, for you, that is.
N.B.: Certainly, not all chemicals are bad. There are many that your tribe has found or made that save lives–that save the lives of members of my own tribe. That calm our nerves when we really need it. That cool our brows when we’re fevered. That fix a quarter crack in a hurting hoof.
Very wise, very loving humans administer these chemicals when we need them–and very cruel, very selfish, money-obsessed humans give them to us when they want to mask a problem–to grow our bodies abnormally–somehow to “enhance” the perfection of my species.
A species that God, himself, already has proclaimed to be perfect.
To think that one can improve on God’s perfection--now, even the blindest of humans can see that that is arrogance to the Nth degree.
Thumbs. It’s all about thumbs. We–members of my tribe–don’t have thumbs. We can’t drive cars, turn knobs or do work that requires fine motor skills.
This has not been a problem for us, for millions of years. We eat, drink, bite, kick, trample–the limbs and digits that we have work just fine for our purposes.
But because we lack thumbs–and you have them–too many of your tribe have come to think that they (that you, humans) run the proverbial show.
You assume that, simply because we have no thumbs–that somehow we’re also stupid, and lacking emotion.
And this is the crux of our problem. Your society is moving too fast, cranking head-long toward…toward, what? You don’t slow down long enough to smell the flowers–to eat the clover–to feel the warm sunshine on your faces.
My tribe has been here for millions of years. Your society, well, you’re the newcomers.
Somehow–and I think that this is interesting–my tribe never has needed you to live. (In the last few hundred years, your humans created breeds of my species that never have lived in the wild, but other than that–we’ve gotten along just fine without you.)
And on the other side of that situation is the fact that–without us, without millenia of cooperation on the part of my tribe--human civilization would not exist today.
There is no human civilization on Planet Earth grew without access to members of my tribe.
Without us, without The Horse, your people would be living without any technology. Not just the fast cars and iPods: without us, you wouldn’t have needed The Wheel.
We are intelligent, sentient, living beings. We have feelings. We bleed, we cry, we die.
Humans have not cornered the market on emotions, IQ or the access to Wisdom.
All Wisdom comes from God–and my tribe, my horse society, has been in constant contact with the Creator since first He breathed air into our nostrils, and put the wind between our ears.
Your tribe, on the other hand, has so much to learn about Him, and his ways.
That learning will require the ability to acknowledge that humans are not the beginning and the end. That humans are not God, or gods. That ability to acknowledge one’s limitations is called, humility.
Next, you’ll need the desire to find quietude. The ability to turn off the TV, the gaming console and the smartphone.
Your tribe needs to find your true selves–you know, the humanity that lies beneath all the make-up, technology and artifice.
Those humans who know us–who really know us–understand that, on the back of a horse–between our ears, in our hearts and minds–lie peace; access to true wisdom and genuine communication.
Those who don’t understand us–or God–will continue to abuse, inject and otherwise mistreat members of my tribe, we, The Horse–simply because they can. Because they feel that they are entitled, simply because they have thumbs and can hold a syringe.
We don’t speak human language, so we must depend on members of your tribe to speak on our behalf. But never mistake our inability to speak in your language–or to pick up a fork–for inferiority, or beaten-down servitude.
We are the embodiment of God’s great creative Mind, a loving gesture on His part to give you a loyal, loving, brilliant companion. How you perceive His gift is up to you: either we are your partners in Life–or we’re mere, inanimate possessions that can be abused, murdered and thrown away.
Doping, whipping, soring, carriage jobs in the most congested city in the world; “eliminating” wild horses: it’s all the same. Either you’re for us, or you’re against.
Technology will not save you, your societies or our planet. Cooperating with us–given to you from your beginnings–finding your humanity underneath your human skin–that openness to our shared Truth–can save us all. If you humans let it.
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