Vagabonds
May 2, 2025
In Sight of Swans
July 31, 2025You heard me – Stop and smell the horses!
Although perhaps (no, definitely) not as widely used as its floral cousin, Stop and smell the roses, I prefer the horse version. How many of us drive past horses every day, or at least every week? I would venture to guess that most of us do, and that means that most of us have a perfect opportunity for some Kindred Species-style meditation.
Scientific research is abundantly clear that animals improve human physical and mental well being. This effect doesn’t even require physical contact – benefits can be derived from watching videos of animals online (this was the topic of a real study)! But the more senses you involve, the better. And the more deliberate you can be about taking a moment to immerse in some animal-facilitated self-love, the better.
So am I suggesting that you pull over (somewhere safe - let’s not contribute to roadkill inventory y’all), roll down your window, and commune with some horses over a fence for two minutes on your way to work? Yes. Yes, I am.
Open the window and smell the horses. The manure, the grass, the air. Talk to them – they might even talk back. Watch them eat, sleep, roll, whatever… just watch them and be present in their moment. Because when you do that, it becomes your moment too. Your blood pressure, stress levels, and mental health will thank you for it. Perhaps more importantly, you will have a new bond to carry with you, and I promise it will lift you up.
Just to be clear, these Kindred Meditation moments don’t have to be some kind of serene yoga commercial. Mine are born from chaos, because my car has kids in it.
So here’s what my family’s drive home from school looks like every single day without fail:
*us driving down dirt road*
Kid 1: “MOM I SMELL HORSE POOP!”
Kid 2: “ME TOO ME TOO WHERE ARE THEY?”
Both of them: “THERE THERE THERE! STOP STOP STOP!”
* Mama obligingly stops and rolls all windows down. Kids go wonderfully silent as we watch *
What follows are hushed conversations about preferred coat color, what horse poop smells like, gentle horse noises directed towards any horse that gives us eye contact, delighted squeaks when poop or pee make a fresh appearance, and so on. My meditations are not quiet or, really, that peaceful. But they are, nonetheless, soul-filling and uplifting. I usually start the car rolling again after about 10 or 15 minutes, despite protests from the backseat.
Roadside moments like this feel different than time spent with my own animals. My family has horses, and we aren’t strangers to riding them, caring for them, or just doting on them. However, I put to you that it is different when you pull over in your car and take that moment on the shoulder of the road. It might be the act of interrupting your commute to ground yourself in some animal peace, or perhaps it is the time spent metaphorically standing at the intersection of your day and that of some random horses…I’m not totally sure. Honestly, it will probably feel different to each of you. I really think you should try it.
And honestly, who says it has to be horses? Cows work too.
