Hitch Up Your Health with HORSES This Spring

My husband Hanbit and I spent our 6th wedding anniversary enjoying fresh air and ice cream in Lancaster County. We also took an Amish buggy ride together, and were invited to sit up front with the driver. This left us with gorgeous views of farmland and magnificent horse haunches. 

When introduced to our team of horses, our buggy driver told us that “Kate” was on the left and “Bandit” was on the right. Though our carriage/horse driver had been “driving” horses since age 8 (a common age apparently for Amish children to begin to learn to operate a buggy), it was his first day driving Kate and Bandit as a team. 

We trotted through the parking lot onto the road and almost immediately were off to a rocky start. I clutched Hanbit’s leg as the buggy veered to the right and the right wheels abruptly bumped several inches down onto the shoulder of the road; the whole carriage leaned right for what felt like a looooong time (but probably wasn’t). We soon got steady though, and I eventually relaxed into the majestic beauty of horses.  

In a team of two, there is always a lead horse, similar to the lead dog in a sled dog team. Kate was the more experienced horse and was our lead for this ride. The lead horse is always on the left (facing oncoming traffic). The lead dog has to be steady enough to stay the course and not get spooked. 

The two horses learn to work as a team, and they learn about each other’s natural tendencies, including what our driver identified as “vices.” He said that sometimes vices can’t be trained out of a horse and you just have to know what you’re working with and then adapt. Humans, unlike horses, have more conscious capacity to decide how to work with themselves and how to change and shift course when needed.

Bandit’s vice was a tendency to pull to one side. The lead horse will course-correct as needed, if and when the team begins to veer off track. 

One of the women on the ride asked the driver if we could pick up the pace and see how fast the buggy could go, but the driver politely declined. He said that these horses would be working the rest of the day and they needed to pace themselves. He wasn’t willing to burn out their energy so early in the morning. It was best to keep a steady pace.

So too is it essential to remember when you’re healing that you’re in a marathon, not a sprint. And though sometimes healing will be rapid, at other times it’s more a matter of maintaining your place on the path, no matter how slow the process might seem. 

It can be hard to keep the faith when the going is slow, which is why it can be helpful to work with a practitioner who can help you reflect on your progress and understand when to rest and when to accelerate towards healing. 

One of the things that interested me was that the horses’ speed varied so often throughout our thirty-minute ride. We didn’t always move at  the same pace and in fact the horses sped up and slowed down naturally within a certain overall rhythm of pace. 

Healing is often like this too. Sometimes it’s a steady trot with the wind behind you, and sometimes it’s more of a faltering slog. But still you’re moving towards where you want to be. And that is what’s ultimately important. 

If you want my help, I’m here to pull the weight alongside you. I can’t do the healing for you, but I can definitely do it with you. With the wisdom of acupuncture theory, I can identify where your system is stuck and start that process of helping you heal.

I can also help you align with your goals, keep an eye out for oncoming obstacles/traffic, keep you sheltered from speed bumps that might spook you, and remind you to speed up or slow down as needed. 

If I have the honor of working with you, I will gladly be your lead horse, your magnificent Kate. 

As our buggy driver commented when discussing the safety of driving a 28-mile per hour buggy on busy roads like Old Philadelphia Pike with cars, and even some semi-trucks (!!) whizzing by, you can never control the circumstances of other drivers on the road, but you can know your horses well, and that’s what will keep you safe. 

Likewise, you can’t know what life will throw at you, but you can know yourself–including your strengths and your vices–and you can be aligned with meaningful and steady supports in your life, so that you can relax into those relationships that help you to heal. 

It’s my wish for you that you recover your own inner radiance and ease. Be it at a steady trot or with a lurch and a start, just know that healing is healing, and that we only need to set our sights on a healthy destination and then course-correct along the road to better health. 

Interested in acupuncture? Want to refer a friend? Visit my website to reach out so that we can connect.