Riding a Horse to the Town Library circa 1865

Since the past month I have been having more insight, analysis, "what makes sense" of my past life in western England (Cotswold region) between 1850 and 1875.

Until one day I can link a family surname and stuff like that I cannot prove that our family actually lived in this region of England, but it somehow feels right. This region is known for its sheep and wool production. In this life, my Dad's mother used to knit stuff for the grandkids like toques and mitts. My Mom never did that. I would think that my Mom would have carried over that talent of knitting, but perhaps the wool that we gathered we just sold off to the market. I don't know for sure yet. It's just speculation for now.

This insight was not part of a new meditation vision, but a portion/scene of the original one from June 22 2009. The new insight begins like this...

In 1865 when I am 15 years old, it is Summer, and I am wearing sandals. I am going to the town Library with my family (same Mom and Dad and one of my sisters - who is 8 years old at the time) on the horse(s). I am looking at some magazine and  I wanted to stay longer, but Dad says we have to go back to the farm.
Something very similar happened in 1979/80 when I had to go to the Centennial Library in Winnipeg here to do research for a school project on the Winnipeg Flood of 1950.

The next day or a few days after that I asked if I could ride one of the horses to the town Library on my own from then on.

I sense that we had 2 farm work horses, and so Mom and Dad made sure that I knew how to tie it up to a post, so that it wouldn't get lost and run away.

So, as I faintly recall...it's more of a knowing feeling and not an actual visualization.

I used to really enjoy riding this horse to and from the town Library on a regular basis. It used to be just me and the horse, and I could be thinking something about life and say something like "right Horsee?" (whatever the name of the horse) LOL.

Back in that lifetime there were no rubber casual shoes. In the Winter you wore boots, and in the Summer you wore dress shoes for nice occasional like Church or sandals for working in the field or just hanging outdoors.

In fact, just recently, based on this past life memory via past life session on June 22 2009, I decided to buy my first pair of sandals in 136 years. So in mid-May this year I went shopping for a pair. I went into a shop on Lilac St, but the shoes they had were not the style I wanted. They referred me to European Shoe on Academy Rd. When I went home and checked their website their prices were way more than what I was expecting to pay...like $200 for one pair.

So I typed in "Sandals Winnipeg" and up came a link to Canadian Footwear where they had a few reasonably priced ones...$60-$90. Much better. I wrote down a few styles that I liked and the next day tried my first choice. They looked cheap and rubbery, and didn't feel right. Next I tried on the $90 pair made of suede... N...i...c...e... The guy measured my feet and the size of the suede ones, with the Columbia label, and it was mine.

It feels so cool wearing the sandals while riding my bike, having the wind pass thru my feet like that. I guess the feeling is similar when riding a horse with sandals on.

The sandals I wear don't have the part that goes between your big toe and the toe next to it because that might irritate the skin and as I have type 2 Diabetes that is not a good thing. Also since I have been having troubles with getting a good pair of socks that don't scrunch my toes, having the sandals on a few times helps the toes on the left foot... I know not to overdo the sandals and that I should keep wearing the regular casual shoes and to rotate using them.

Back to the past life story...

So, one day at the Library I guess I was looking at possibly a horse racing magazine or the newspaper and I must have read about racing or steeplechase racing... Because at that point I got so fascinated by it that I wanted to have one of our two work horses become racers. Well, that wouldn't work out, and now I understand that when you just have 2 on the farm, you can't give one up to race because they are work horses. I suppose if we had more than 2 then maybe Dad could have given/sold one to me... But it didn't work out that way.

So I spent the next few years, I don't know when my fascination with doing this began or when it ended.

I could imagine that it must have created lots of stress in our family at the time, and I guess that Mom and Dad would have given me three options...

1. Stay on the farm and help with the chores and maybe get paid and then buy a horse
2. Get married, raise a family and then buy a horse and race it.
3. Move to town or a larger city and do something else

If I had just hung on for 3 or 4 years maybe I would have crossed paths with someone who could have helped me realize my dream. But something ended that in some way.

BTW, while I was contemplating this stuff I was on a bike ride. When I came back home the first clock I saw was my alarm clock in my room, which incorrectly read 12:34, so it is a sign from my spirit guide(s) that the part about not having enough horses to spare to have one to race is  correct.

See also:
June 22 2009 - Past Life Session 1
Researching 19th Century Past Life in Rural England
Flickr.com - Cotswold group