"...Daddy, why do some horses have their eyes covered with patches...?"

"...Daddy, why do some horses have their eyes covered with patches...?"

...asked the voice of a little girl.

It was somewhere in 2013. My wife & I were visiting a hill station called Mahabaleshwar. On our way back, we stopped at a tourist point called the Table Land. You can ride a horse there. Based on your riding proficiency, you may either enjoy a slow walk, a trot or a mighty gallop across the Table Land. 

While we were waiting, we saw a beautiful black horse (his saddle read "Salman") gallop towards us. The guy riding it was clearly a pro. The guy managing the horse saw us admiring it and asked "Sir, would you like to ride it too?" He saw the hesitation on our faces & added "I'll take you for a slow walk and we can increase the pace only if you feel like it." Reluctantly, my wife & I grabbed the saddle and mounted on Salman's back. As Salman was about to move, I heard a little voice asking what I quoted above. "They are there so that the horse looks ahead and not sideways sweety. Such things are removed once the horse is back in its stable at the end of the day,'' said the dad, as Salman started walking.

Later, I looked up the internet to read about those patches and it turns out they are called "blinkers".  Blinkers, sometimes known as blinders, are a piece of horse tack that prevent the horse from seeing to the rear and, in some cases, to the side. Blinkers are usually made of leather or plastic cups placed on either side of a horse's eyes. Many racehorse trainers believe that blinkers keep horses focused on what is in front, encouraging them to pay attention to the race rather than to distractions such as crowds. Additionally, driving horses commonly wear blinkers to keep them from being distracted or spooked, especially on crowded city streets. [Source: Wikipedia]

Yesterday, on my way to work, I spotted a carriage being pulled by a couple of horses and they were sporting blinkers. The sight brought back the memory that I just narrated. 

If we were to draw an analogy, the set routines & habits we consciously follow, probably act like blinkers for our mind. Put them to daily/routine disciplined use and they help us focus on what's ahead, not allowing us to get distracted from what's happening around or behind us. Yet, the blinkers can't be sported 24x7. They need to be eased off / stowed away when we need to take a break. It could be a matter of few minutes, few hours, few days, few weeks, few months or even longer, based on the circumstances at hand.

So keep polishing those blinkers to keep them spick & span, but do give your mind a chance to wander away & enjoy the trivial distractions from time to time, as you look back to reflect on things gone by, before strapping those blinkers up again to continue focussing on the road ahead.