The Vale of the White Horse

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Across all of England they speak of the downs. The word derives from the medieval Norse word meaning hill, but the usage has a broader intent that takes in the general nature of the overall terrain.

The terrain of the downs, which is influenced by the underlaying chalk, is made up of vast stretches of rolling hills crossed by rivers and long valleys, or vales. The soil that overlays the chalk is rich but relatively thin and makes for unique displays where the chalk is exposed.

It is in this setting that we find the White Horse of Uffington, a 374 foot chalk hill figure in Oxfordshire, England (some 60 miles NW of London).

It’s stride can be either a full gallop, or a left lead canter, both strides look identical during transition, and both put the horse in full suspension (all four feet off the ground at the same time).
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But it’s stride is not the most notable feature, as its head is as if offered on a platter (it’s been given its head so to speak). Giving a horse its head has definite meaning and definite implications.

It means "letting it find it’s own footing, or way home!" In either case it implies (rather it demands) that there be a rider.

So the White Horse of Uffington is a dual entity. There is a Celtic tradition that names Epona (a horse goddess). The name comes by way of the Celtic word for horse (ekwos), the Gaulish (epos) and the Latin (equus), - all meaning "Divine Mare," or "she who is like a mare."

The White Horse of Uffington has been given its head so we will know that it is a dual entity - the White Horse and its rider Epona

James
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The chalk horses of Wiltshire: their history and their locations

http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk

"Wiltshire is the county for white horses. There are or were at least twenty-four of these hill figures in Britain, with no less than thirteen being in Wiltshire, and another white horse, the oldest of them all, being just over the border in Oxfordshire. Most of the white horses are chalk hill carvings, and the chalk downs of central Wiltshire make it an ideal place for such figures."



You get the best of both worlds in Wiltshire. crop circles and a white horse:

I'm waiting for the explanation of the piltdown man.

me too!