Brad Steiger - Horse Miracles: Inspirational True Stories of Remarkable Horses

Contents

Foreword

A round 10,000 years ago, an early equine species vanished completely from the North American continent, and in many of the ancient civilizations in Africa, Asia, and Europe, humans didnt quite know what to do with horses. Then, around 3,000 years ago, horses were domesticated in Europe for the first time and were used for the transportation of both humans and trade goods.

Once the utilitarian problem of what to do with horses was solved, it didnt take long for the animal to achieve a divine or semi-divine status. In ancient Babylon, the horse was identified with the god Zu. The Greek word for horse is ikkos, the great light, and the Greeks placed Pallas Athena, their goddess of wisdom, in a chariot drawn by four fiery horses. The great Greek philosopher Plato stated that the horse at its best signified reason coursing through the natural flow of things, and at its worst represented fantasy.

The Hebrew word for horse means to explain, thus equating the animal with the human intellect. The Latin equus resolves into the light of the great mind or soul. In old France, a flower-laden horse served as the symbol for the Divine Mind and Reason in various ceremonies. The traditional nursery rhyme that tells of a White Lady who rides a white horse and whose bells make music wherever she goes is quite likely referring to our Lady of Wisdom.

To the ancient Vikings, the god Odin rode a swift horse across the sky and down into the realm of death. Many of the old Germanic tribes used horses for purposes of divination, believing the sacred beasts to be more in contact with the gods than were the priests. Charlemagne presented his four sons with the magical talking horse Bayard, whose back could stretch from a single saddle to accommodate all four of its masters.

The horse was introduced to the Native American people by the Spanish explorers in the early 1500s. Although the strange, large animal had been foreseen in the visions of the Inca prophets of Viracocha in Peru, none of the people in South America were prepared for the actual meeting with the awesome creature. When the Inca people first encountered the Spanish conquistadors, some believed the riders and their horses to be a single animal, a monster with a bearded human face and a body with four legs. Later, when the Inca were able to distinguish the Spanish invaders as humans, they recalled the words of their mystics who had warned of the destruction of the Inca culture at the hands of men with beards who would sit astride strange animals of great size and carry rods that would flash fire and death.

Coronado brought the first horses to the Plains Indians in 1541. Typical of the tribes along the routes of the early Spanish explorers, the Blackfeet had no words to describe the great steeds on which the armored strangers sat astride. They decided the mysterious four-legged beast looked more like an elk than anything else they had seen in their world, so they named the horse the Medicine Elk. Other tribes thought the horses looked more like big dogs, and they rubbed the animals sweat on their own bodies in the hope of absorbing some of their strength.

Horses that strayed or escaped from the Spanish conquistadors formed the nucleus of great wild herds that revolutionized entire tribal cultures. Tribes that had settled near rivers and practiced a relatively stable and sedentary lifestyle were transformed into nomadic people in one or two generations. As horses enabled tribes to hunt in ever-expanding parameters, the likelihood of increased scrimmages and battles with other tribes greatly increased. And another tribes horses were very often the prize of warfare.

The eastern tribes and the mighty Iroquois Confederacy did not have their visions of the strange animal fulfilled until the early 1600s when the first white settlers arrived from England. Horses reached the Nebraska tribes in the 1680s, and the upper Missouri by the 1750s.

The horse had long been a revered animal in Europe and Asia, and it soon became a sacred and prized possession of the Native American people. From the plains of the West to the forest trails of the East, the number of horses tethered outside a mans home became an indicator of his wealth. In only a few generations of human and equine interaction, the horse began to play a prominent role in tribal myths and legends, as well as in the determination of social status. At the same time that the horse became indispensable as a physical companion to the hunter and the warrior, the great four-legged animal also achieved a spiritual significance, just as the horse had done in Europe and Asia.

Sherry Hansen Steiger

Brad Steiger

Forest City, Iowa

B eth S. wrote to tell us about two special horses that she believed were really angels in disguise that protected, maybe even saved, the lives of her two little girls, Tonya, six, and Sonya, eight.

Beth was left with two young girls to raise when she and her husband were divorced five years ago. In spite of their attempts to work things out, spending years in and out of marital counseling sessions, reconciliation just wasnt happening.

So the inevitable heartache occurred and we split up, Beth said sadly.

Agreeing that she and the girls would remain living in the area, Beth had tried in vain to locate a house in the same school district, but one that wasnt quite so remote as the one they owned in the country. Explaining that she was nervous about the isolation of the home, it was still the best option for the girls to remain in the same school, with as little disruption as possible.

Although several of the marital counseling sessions included the girls, we wanted to make certain that they knew that none of the problems that mommy and daddy had been experiencing with each other had anything to do with them, nor was it their fault in any way, Beth said.

Beth went on to tell us that she and her husband hadnt expected that the girls would take it so hard, as they had included them in a number of counseling sessions. Naively, she understands now, they felt that the divorce shouldnt really have been a surprise to Tonya and Sonya. They had tried to prepare them and protect them at the same time, but when the final declaration was stated as fact, the girls refused to accept it and were in shock. In total denial, they refused to believe the divorce was going to happen. Tonya and Sonya were convinced their parents would work things out and be one happy family once again.

They were so traumatized that we were scared for themso much so that we took them to a child psychologist, suggested by our marital counselor, Beth shared.

Dr. J. was very helpful and assured Beth and her husband that this was a common reaction from many children going through a divorce situation. She told the couple that the most important thing was to be consistent in assuring the girls that they were loved and always would be by both parents, no matter what. Beth said that the counselors words had assuaged their fears and renewed hope that they could get through this.

In one of the several sessions, the idea of pet therapy was brought up as Dr. J. explained the theory behind it and of her successful applications of it with several difficult children patients.

Elaborating on how pets could be among the best therapy for young and old alike, the doctor added that children often make smoother adjustments in times of crisis if they have a new dream pet to love and care for, Beth said.