Our new best friend

When I was much younger, like at about age 12 or so, I became horse crazy. Well, I had always liked the idea of horses, especially since my uncle, who made brooms, kept me with a steady supply of broomstick horses. I faithfully watched Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on the TV. (I was going to be a cowgirl when I grew up).

Then, when I was 13, we moved to a new house about 2 miles away right next to the Harbor Freeway. There was open land on the other side of the freeway, and we could hear meadowlarks singing in the fields. There were stables, too. We could cross over the freeway on the bridge at 135th Street and we explored the fields and walked to the stables. Actually, I don’t remember if this was a “we” or if this was by myself. I know my brothers went over there too because one of them came home one day with a starving kitten. At any rate, I went to the stables a lot to hang out and watch the horses. Now, of course, all of that is long gone, replaced parking lots and huge warehouses.

I read all of the horse books that were written for young people that were in the library --- The Walter Farley Black Stallion stories (indeed, the Black Stallion movie is up there in the top 10 of my all-time favorites). I read the Marguerite Henry horse stories, and I read the Mary O'Hara horse stories... Flicka, Thunderhead, Green Grass of Wyoming... and I watched the Westerns on television.... and Fury.

I looked at horses, and I read about horses, and once in a great while, I went horseback riding. As I said, I was horse crazy. I imagined that some day I would own my own horse, and it would be a dapple-gray mare...

very much like this one.

I am not horse crazy now. I probably haven’t ridden horse in 25 years or so. But I still do enjoy watching them. And up until about a week ago, I especially enjoyed watching the horses the Horse Trader had accumulated at his farm across the highway.

We began pulling the grass on the other side of the fence and offering it to them...

This grass was not greener, just longer....

I thought maybe they would like some carrot...



But she wasn't interested...

And then the Horse Trader did what Horse Traders do: He traded them and they are all gone...

And I never did get to see the baby this horse was going to have..