(Leaf 55) – Reflection
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Félix Thiollier - The Horse Trainer (1899)
I’m not very knowledgeable about
horses or horse riding, although my Great Grandfather was an expert farrier. I
have been horse riding when I was younger, but it was not something I took to
easily. This poem is about a paddock I used to ride past on my bike when I
lived in a small village in the countryside for a year or so in the UK. I always
found it fascinating to watch the closeness and connection between this woman and
her horse. Two living things, so very different in shape and form, but functioning together
– thinking and communicating as one; or so it seemed to me, merely looking-on.
Entranced by the disciplined, but dancelike elegance of it all.
Poised – the copper bay;
the long rein taut in her hand,
the lunge whip – held still in the air.
