Ab initio

Welcome to the beginning (which is, in fact, really the continuation of another story, as are most beginnings...)

This is the new blog dedicated to my journey with a very particular mare. You can find "the other story" here: I call it "the other story" not because it means less or is in way less significant to my life. In fact, without it, I wouldn't be where I am today. The Chronicles of Ernest, my old blog, was the story about my old TB gelding, who is no longer with me on this earth. The events that have occurred since his death have sparked the need for a new blog, a new place to track the trials and tribulations of my relationship with my current horse, Stella.

A word on the title: this holds a kind of special meaning for me. People often use that phrase "through the looking glass" as a metaphor for clearer seeing or insight. It also has ties to Alice in Wonderland, although that's completely unrelated to this blog.

I have certainly peered "through the looking glass" on many an occasion the past few years. I've seen bits of myself, the rights and wrongs of my horsemanship, my relationship to horses and "what it all really means". I've done lots of observing: nothing but sitting in the stall, the pasture, the arena, and watching communication from horse and rider (much of which is often ignored or misunderstood) and rider to horse (much of which is often unfair/uncomfortable and confusing from the horse's point of view). I've also observed my own horse and her herdmates and how they communicate. Nothing is misunderstood or confusing here: everything the horse says and does is pure truth, because horses know no other way to communicate. It is from this that I begin to put together my new understanding of horsemanship. Now that I have this knowledge and am continuing to learn, I am no longer peering "through the looking glass", I am "into the looking glass". I am experiencing all that I have learned, assimilating my understanding of horses and myself to forge a better relationship with my mare.

There is so much good to come, and I am so looking forward to it!