Just got back from a week at a hacienda in Texas hill country. The retreat was based on Celtic ways of respect and spiritual communion. While it was very hands-on, the promise was there, too, of seeing God in the eyes of the horse. It was the first time I'd been around stallions, and hot Peruvian ones at that, a.k.a. pure libido. Maybe you've seen the proud Iberian horses, that can dance and sidestep. Classical Spanish horsemanship works with the horse, to shape all that brio, into something beautiful. You might relate if you've got planets in the fire element in the birth chart. Especially, if like me, your Saturn (discipline) is in fire. With Saturn in Aries (warrior) in the 1st House, seeing the simmering passions of horse & rider turned into an embodied artform was beyond inspiring.

That trip was a gift to myself, to celebrate recovering from an accident last October, in which I broke my leg while driving a horse carriage. On the night of the full Moon in Aries, I lost the reins and rocketed off the carriage. In a post last year, I wrote about Uranus transiting my First House, and its traditional association with accidents. Now I'm seeing other astro-dimensions, like a progressed Moon in Sagittarius that calls for freedom on every level. It fits what's been a lifelong challenge to both free and harness fire.

Sagittarius is all about freedom and the quest for spiritual knowledge, and horses are a totem of this fire sign. During the Pluto in Sagittarius era (since 1995), there's been a real interest in a deeper understanding of the horse psyche and spirit. There's a trend away from breaking horses and ruling by obedience alone. The bestselling books Monty Roberts' The Man Who Listens to Horses, and Nicholas Evans' The Horse Whisperer, both came out in 1996. They brought back into the culture, the idea that horses respond to respect, and are wise creatures in their own right. The Pluto in Sagittarius era also saw the rise of what's called equine-assisted therapies. Books like the Tao of Equus, published in 2001, rekindled something in the collective, a desire to relate to the horse in a new (and ancient) way.

Of course, Pluto's dark side has been seen in the horse racing world, with the deaths of horses like Barbaro and more recently Eight Belles. The result of breeding powerful horse bodies on thin sticks -- for a high stakes game -- was broadcast for all to see when Pluto at 0 degrees Capricorn (big business). Seems meaningful that in nautical terms, as this USA Today article points out, Eight Belles marks the end of one's watch shift. Pluto moves into Sagittarius again in mid-June, for a last hoorah through November 27th. Another chance to re-awaken to the horse as more than HP, but as friend, teacher and traveling companion.