Meditation on the Mundane: Horse Shoes

What could be more mundane than an old, rusted and discarded horseshoe? Mundane it certainly is, but is it beautiful?

The Mundane Monday Challenge is about taking pictures depicting the beauty of the mundane. This week I found a very old horseshoe on a nail in a fencepost. Someone must have picked it up and hung it on the nail, knowing that sooner or later a horse will be discovered with one shoe missing and then some unlucky punter will be sent into the 2 Ha field to find it so that it can be put back on the horse. If you have ever had to do this job, you would know that it makes finding a needle in a haystack an attractive alternative option. Especially if the field is muddy…

A horseshoe on a fence post is mundane, but maybe not that beautiful. To me, the beauty lies in the possible meaning of the horseshoe on the fence post. If the horseshoe is on the fence post, it is not on the horse’s hoof. I believe it is better for horses to be barefoot, au naturel. As our horses mostly work as equine guides during our Equine-guided Meditation Retreats, they do not need shoes.  I am a barefoot advocate, yes, but I am not a fanatic and occasionally one or two of our horses, who had always worn shoes before they came to us,  may sport a pair of front shoes during the summer season.

When I see a horseshoe on a fence post, old, rusted and discarded, I hope it is because the horse’s owner decided that shoes were no longer needed.

So what could be more beautifully mundane than a single discarded horseshoe?

A whole heap of old, rusted and discarded horse shoes.