...and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image to romp, graze, gallop, play and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
White horses looks so majestic and are more rare than horses of other colors. They are truly white, not gray or dapple gray. They have a special significance in legends and myth around the globe.
Sometimes they are seen as fertility omens, both mares and stallions, sometimes they are seen as harbingers of doom or danger, warnings to mortals to wake up or take heed.
The Russian-Ossetian depiction of white horses likens them to the sun chariot. The Ossetian people reside on both sides of the Great Caucasus Mountains in Russia and Georgia, and the brilliant sun chariot harkens to days of old, with warriors and strength and harvest and sun.
Other white horses are ridden by saviors, to remind humans of the end of times.
The white horses of myth include Pegasus (Greek), who has wings and can fly. Pegasus usually has a thick neck but can tuck his nose in a swan-like pose. He is the son of Poseidon and the gorgon, Medusa. Gorgons were water demons or monsters, who killed humans.
Poseidon was the creator of horses, fashioning the equine out of cresting waves when challenged to do so. They burst out of the seas or bound out of a spectacular lightning bolt, right into existence.
Other white horses are the magical unicorn, who sports a golden horn from his head. Some white horses have seven heads, such as Uchaishravas, while others have eight feet.
Sleipnir, the fabulous white horse of Odin, had eight feet, which caused him to be more powerful and run faster.
Sleipnir was supposedly gray in color, his name is associated with art and literature and the names of ships. He was “the best horse ever among gods and men” and his Norse name means, “Slipper.”
The Tjangvide Image Stone portrays Odin riding into Valhalla on Sleipnir.
Sleipnir is the ancestor of the gray horse “Grani,” who was owned by the hero, Sigurd. In art, Sigurd is depicted riding Grani, holding a treasure chest full of gold because he successfully slew a dragon.
The white horses travel in herds or alone.
Christians believe that Saint George rode a white horse, as does Saint James, the patron of Spain.
Saint George was a dragon slayer (the devil) and his elegant white horse comes out of the fray with nary a scratch on his impeccable white coat. Saint George holds his sword in one hand and the reins in the other, and his shield is tied to the saddle; he is the patron saint of horsemen.
Soldiers in the 1st Crusade were encouraged in battle by seeing a vision of Saint George riding his white steed.
The Scottish people believe in the “kelpie” or the “Each uisge,” a deadly water demon with supernatural powers. It is shaped like a horse, sometimes white, sometimes black.
At the court of Xerxes (486-465 BC) Herodotus said that white horses were deemed to be sacred to the Persians.
In Celtic myth, Rhiannon, a mystical figure, rides a white horse in her questing. She was depicted as a strong-willed woman who dumps her betrothed for another man, Prince Pwyll.
Rhiannon is linked to the Roman-Celtic fertility goddess, Epona.
There are hill figures located in England, large, visual representations of animals and figures, carved deep into the sides of steep hummocks. The carvings expose the underlying geological strata, usually limestone or chalk. The geoglyphs are designed to be seen from the air or far away, and are also called chalk figures.
The Uffington White Horse from the Bronze Age is 3,000 years old, and is a primitive, but beautiful white horse carved into the side of a hill. The scale is perfect, when seen from above.
More next time.
Until then, the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”
Ref: Internet/ Wikipedia