Sunday, April 1, 2012

A is for Animals


I know this month is going to be crazy with Script Frenzy, but I couldn't pass up the A to Z Challenge.

A is for Animals:
Yep, that's right. If you know me, you know that I could collect animals the way some people collect shoes. It's a problem  passion that I've had since I was a little girl and saw my first horse at the circus.

I used to dream that I'd find a horse on the side of the road (I guess like a stray dog) and that I'd be allowed to take it home and keep it. I imagined how I would ride my horse to school each morning, tying him up outside near the bike rack. Yes, watching Little House on the Prairie led me to believe that little girls could ride a horse to school.

I had books full of horses that I'd look through religiously, imaging which one would some day be mine. Normally I was drawn to the black stallions with flowing manes and large, muscular bodies.

Maybe this dream stemmed from my love of the movie, The Black Stallion (sugar cubes would ever after remind me of Black's velvety lips). As a little girl I got to sit on the back of the real Black Stallion. My dad met the owner of one of the horses used in the movie and arranged for me to get to ride him during a trip to Texas. For the longest time we had a picture of me straddling his broad back with my arms spread wide.

As I grew up I never stopped loving animals. I don't have room in my yard for a horse, but I do have three dogs and a bunny rabbit. My dreams have shifted slightly. I still want my black stallion, but now I want the farm to go along with him. I can see him there, grazing in the green fields. I'll come outside in the morning when the dew still covers the grass and I'll place a sugar cube on top of the fence, waiting for his velvety lips to snatch it up.

8 comments:

  1. Beautifully written! It seems like all little girls at one point or another want a horse to call their own. I think I read the Black Stallion (or Black Beauty, I can't remember which). I just recall the book being sad. :(

    Good luck with the rest of the A to Z Challenge! :)

    Sarah @ The Writer's Experiment

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  2. I once found a miniature goat on the side of the road and took it home with me. My parents got rid of it a few weeks later, but that's another story. I hope you get your black stallion.

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  3. Aw! What an amazing image, of your future horse and farm. Both sound gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing pictures a few years down the road. ; )

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  4. We were always surrounded by animals growing up. My grandpa had a farm--chickens, ducks, roosters, pigs, dogs, cows, and goats. I got to witness a nanny goat give birth to 4 little kids. Pretty awesome!

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  5. In my next life I want to be an animal, preferably a cat--indoor variety with a crazy cat person owner.

    I enjoyed you post.
    Pamela

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  6. Love your graphics especially. Hope you manage to keep up - great blog!

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  7. Been a horse girl all my life. :) Don't know what I'd do without them in my life. Beautiful creatures. Good post! And good luck with A2Z

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  8. When I was around age 9, I asked my dad for a horse. He said we couldn't have one. I answered "When I get married, my HUSBAND will let me have a horse if I want one."

    Dad said "I hope so." I look back with such longing as I get older, but this time, I long for my dad.

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