Mustang Saga

Lest you misunderstand, I guess I'll ramble a bit here.

I don't like to talk about religion and beliefs and all that. It's just not a public thing for me. It's too strong and maybe too unformed.

I used to think faith was for the weak minded. Now though, I think that faith and belief may be the most powerful things a person has. It's even upheld by science. I mean, if just being aware of something can change it, imagine what believing in it can do. We think we know so much about the universe, but from the little bit I've read about physics - we don't even know the fundamentals.

I believe in living life in a state of joyous expectancy. In a word, faith. Although I'm not always filled with joy, my faith rarely flags. This year has been hard, I'll admit. I'm not going to say what I have faith in, except maybe that all is well... Although it is more than that. But anyway...

To me, horses are deeply intertwined with all this fuzzy mysticism. And my accepting this poor broken filly that is lucky to be alive was part of the faith that all will be well. The fact that she lived through this strange and sad life of starvation and travel to end up here, with me, seems a bit like fate. So of course I wanted a special name for her, but nothing was right.

Today I trimmed her hind hooves. (Sorry, no pictures.) In between hooves we had a long session of grooming (horse type scratchy grooming, not grooming to get clean) and quiet affection. She's letting her guard down a little bit. Once she also tested the waters with pinned ears. :) While I stood there quietly rubbing her shoulder and chest, watching her face to make sure I had the best spot, her name came to me. Dove.

When I came in, I wasn't sure that was the right name. It just isn't something I would choose. I mentioned it to my sister when she had me look up the symbolism of a couple other birds. And so I looked it up too, and found this. "By a dove are signified the truths and goods of faith with him who is to be regenerated." The same page went on to say the turtledove signifies the "life of faith."

Yes, it's biblical, but it fits. I can't really say how it fits, because she is not my faith and I am not hers, but somehow by faith we will go through life and discover something transcendent together.

(Which isn't to say I'm going to keep her.)
(See, now I'm wanting to delete all this. Aaarrgh. But it's kinda neat? Or is it just out there? I guess I'll admit to being "out there" sometimes, and post it.)