Horse Goddess

I’m working on an article on research methods. The current section discusses scope and discipline when doing research with the key point being to resist the rabbit holes. Don’t go off on that tangent! I wrote an example that had me snickering but was far too specific for the target audience. Here is my example.

For example, were any of the horses on Epona artifacts painted? One site equates Epona with Rhiannon, and since she had a gray horse then Epona must also have had a gray horse. Rhiannon also rode a horse, but she’s from a later time period and in Wales. There is a related link to the Welsh Mari Llywd traditions around Christmas as well as hobby horses. And they could all possibly related back to Epona, but it really isn’t answering the question of whether or not any of the equids depicted with Epona had been painted.

Happy Eponalia to anyone who celebrates it! May Her day be blessed.

It has been raining constantly here. I’m going out to the barn tomorrow to celebrate. I’m going to pamper the mares, and if the conditions are okay, maybe get in a ride too. Later, I’ll make apple brownies and clean the altar.

Over the past few years, the way that I honor Epona has evolved from being in front of the altar to being in the saddle. I have focused on having a connection to Her through my connection with horses. Standing in front of my altar, I feel Her strength and calm at the core of my being. That same core has become central to riding and connecting with my horses.

There have been times when I’ve put my foot in the stirrup and known I shouldn’t ride. I’ve felt that nagging anger that rises and spills over for seeming no apparent reason. It means my inner self is in turmoil and I have no business being on a horse. It’s not always a dramatic feeling. Sometimes it’s a little thing, like getting irritated when the halter clip doesn’t come undone or my mare’s tail swats me in the face one too many times.

These are all things that should just roll off and be let go. They shouldn’t nag at me like some three-year-old kid asking for the eight time for some candy at a checkout line.

It’s more than just being centered and grounded. It’s about being fully in the present with my horse. Fully with her and aware. Letting go of what happened at work (or recognizing when I am too wound to let those things go) and enjoying the connection with my girl.

That’s what is at the core of it. Recognizing when the mood is there and we are good to work — both for me and for her. She has days when she’s had that same look in her eye that I get when I just had a crappy day. We do something else on those days. Sometimes we don’t ride. Other times we go on a trail ride, or set up obstacles in the ring and have fun playing with pool noodles.

When you commune with a deity, you don’t force the connection. You ground, center, and let go into the presence of your god(s). It’s like releasing into yourself to connect to the divine by traveling through your perceptions: a reaching in to reach out to Her.

It’s the same with riding. You have to listen to where you are emotionally and physically, and pay the same attention to your horse’s state as well. When you do, then it’s like magic because you work together, you connect and things that seemed more difficult because of poor communication are within reach.

This past year my mare and I have made more progress than we have in the past three years combined. We had a lesson a few weeks back and my girl suddenly started engaging her hindquarters so her impulsion increased. Her trot went from silky smooth to feeling like a bouncing ball.

And I laughed for the sheer joy of feeling her move and how we could work as a team. How we could be connected.

It was a ridden prayer to Her.

Tomorrow is Eponalia, which had me thinking about things to post here about how I celebrate. I knew I needed to do some site updates on the backend with the new version of WordPress that came out. Opened the URL and received a pesky “Unable to connect to the database” error message. WordPress backend was also down and offered the same message.

I was able to log on to the control panel for the domain and verify that the databases were indeed there and the SQL server was up. I opened a support ticket with the hosting company and then began Googling for answers.

If you ever receive the same type of error message, this article about how to fix the error establishing a database connection does indeed help you resolve the issue.

Re-entering the database password for the database account in the control panel corrected the problem.

Sites back up. And I closed the support ticket.