Days of Horses are a multiday Rodnovery festival celebrating this animal that starts on February 13th and ends on February 17th. Like most multiday holidays and festivals in Slavic Native Faith, this one also ends with a celebration of a deity, the three-headed god Triglav.

Animals have long been a crucial part of human existence, especially in the old days where our ancestors relied on some of them for certain tasks. Dogs were reliable hunting and herding companions, cats were good at dealing with rodents, and livestock would be used for food and products.

When you look back into the history of humankind you can’t miss out on one particular mighty animal that stood by our sides for ages. Galloping into wars guided by our knees, transporting people and supplies, or helping with agriculture work, the horse was an irreplaceable animal in our ancestors’ lives.

Horses in Rodnovery

Apart from being a crucial part of the lives of our Rodnovery ancestors, horses also had mythical and mystical parts to them. They had many rituals and folk beliefs tied to them, especially to the concept of death.

Winter, as it was harsh and hard to survive in the past times, associated our ancestors with death and the underworld. There were multiple ways to enter the underworld when you die, and one of them included a being on horseback while you ride into it.

That stuck to Rodnovery tradition and is why horses started being associated with death.

The Days of Horses are celebrated in February, just after the end of the celebration of Veles, the deity of the underworld. It’s believed that the souls of some ancestors get intertwined with horses and serve the purpose of being connected to humans and carry them in the afterlife.

With that belief, we can find some traces that our ancestors, especially warriors and rulers were buried or burned alive together with their trusty steed. With this act, the warrior or ruler had their horse with them to ease the passage to the underworld, where they can be united once again.

Days of Horses Tradition From Our Ancestors

In my parts of the Rodnvoery world, there are some traditions that were passed from generation to generation that still exist today, and there are some that are well recorded.

On the days of horses, those who have horses used to bake bread in honor of the health of their companions. The bread was specific, being rounded with a hole in the middle, resembling a big donut. The hole in the middle had the purpose of having the horse rider’s arm going through it.

On that day the riders would head out with the bread and their horses for a ride, and would usually band up with others as well. The bread was carried in the left arm, whilst the right was used to control the horse on a speedy ride. The ride itself was a ritual of blessing the bread.

After the ride, the rider and his horse would eat the bread together as a sign of big blessings.

One of our writers, Ame, with her best friend Rocket.

Horses and Triglav

Triglav was one of the more known deities in the Rodnovery world, and the horse was his animal. Chronicles of the past tell us that in all of the temples and shrines of Triglav was a black horse that was kept as a sacred animal.

Animals kept in Rodnvoery temples and shrines as sacred were not ever sacrificed, rather were used in rituals such as channeling energy or tell the fortune of the future. Black horses in Triglavs’ temples were used to assist in giving our prophecies, but there are no clues on exactly how.

During these days amongst the Slavic people of the Southern realms, it’s believed that during the night alone rider with three heads gallops on his black horse around villages and settlements and take away people who dare wander the nights alone. Still, to this day, there is a superstition about it, so it’s not allowed to go out during the night.

Also, with that being said, in some parts, the stories mention an invisible rider or a horse without one that brings bad omens to people.

Love animals? Read about the Rodnovery celebration that honors dogs.

Days of Horses Today

Today, horses aren’t common animals that people keep and quite frankly have become a rarity in my part of the world. During these days Rodnovery pagans usually honor the tradition of baking the bread in honor of the horses and are a bit superstitious with going outside at night.

Since horses are connected with the underworld as well, during these days most often people would visit the graveyards to honor their ancestors and people that recently passed. I lost my uncle this year, so this is one of the traditions I honored.

Apart from that tradition, Days of Horses are not a festival I resonate with very well, so I honor it at a minimal level.

In Rodnovery it’s important not to skip a holiday, even if you do not celebrate or honor it, you can at the very least dedicate a prayer to the deity, element, animal, or anything else that is celebrated during it.

There is a national park and mountain named after Triglav. There they offer horseback riding trips. Icelandic horses have become popular in the region.

Take Away

If we like it or not, animals were, and still are, a crucial part of our lives. Similar as we love and honor our loved ones that are a part of our lives, we should allocate some of the love to all the creatures we share this beautiful earth with. Our ancestors did it, and we shouldn’t stop!

Author, Marko, is a young pagan from Southeastern Europe, specializing his pagan path in his Native Faith called Rodnovery and dwelling into Wiccan solitary practices. Years of research and practice, from a very young age when curiosity blooms, gave Marko a good level of expertise on the topic of the Rodnovery religion.