I’ve always had a tendency to walk outside barefooted. When I lived in Florida, a group of friends and I were walking barefoot along sidewalks one evening, between several stables and homes – we saw a fire in the distance and, in a bit of a panic, ran across two empty lots to be certain it was not a horse barn. When we found out it was a demolished shed, being deliberately burned, we started walking back, retracing our path.
As we got to the empty lots, we saw that they were covered (literally) in broken glass. Sparkling in the setting sunlight, we pondered how we had managed to remain unharmed – no cut feet on any of us. We found a new path back.
It made me think about walking on hot coals. I have never doubted that “mind over matter” is a real thing. Decades later, here in New Mexico, a riding student of mine went to a gathering where they actually did walk a long path of hot coals barefooted. They were prepared for the experience with meditation and breathing exercises. She said she did well, was amazed and unharmed, but, she had a hot coal get caught between her toes. When she told me that, I just knew, if I tried it, I would get a smoldering coal between my toes! I have not tried it… but probably would, given the chance!
My nemesis these days is the proliferation of “goatheads” since all the rain we’ve had these past months. They are sharp, nasty little thorns that feel venomous – after you pull one out, it can hurt for days. And I got one deep in my toe last week. My toe actually swelled! It just yesterday stopped hurting. Instead of hot coals, a section of goatheads to walk through barefooted would impress the patootie out of me!
And going outside to check on horses barefooted has been replaced by my stepping out in socks (it’s been really cold lately). Now, the muddy color doesn’t wash out of my socks anymore.
And washing clothes (I’m a horsewoman) means checking pockets for hay and treats and nails I find on the ground (when they built barns years ago, did they just throw boxes of nails from the roof in all directions?)… cough drops and old tissues, these things never fare well in the washer or the drier. Yet, my best intentions are never enough. The drier vent screen tells the tale, always full of hay specks, candy wrappers and Kleenex fuzz. The alfalfa pellets and rusty nails stay in the washer. And I won’t even get started about being banned from Laundromats in the spring when horse blankets need to be washed.
Stablewomen 