When I was a kid, I was horse crazy. Well, crazy is putting it mildly. I was horse insane. From about age 8 until age 11 or so, I lived and breathed horses. I read everything I could find written about them. I collected toy models of them. And if I wasn’t pretending to ride an imaginary horse, I was pretending to be one. Yes. I had it bad.
In the 3rd grade we had to bring in a picture of the pet we had or the pet we wished we had. Did I take a picture of my guinea pig to share? Of course not. I took in a picture of a horse-and a taxidermy horse at that! And…to top it all off…I told my classmates that it was my own pet horse. I was an instant celebrity-but my new found fame made me uneasy. (It WAS based on a fib.) And so, one morning, I announced to my friends that my horse had died. (A broken neck, no less.) Everyone grieved right along with me-and the fateful moment arose when my teacher ran into my Mom after school-and offered her sympathy. I’m just glad I wasn’t there at that awkward moment-my poor Mom—the last to know.
Years ago, in the midst of my fever, my Dad made me a promise. “If you still love horses when you are 15, I will buy you one.”
I still remember his name-George. A shy boy that I got up the nerve to ask to sign my yearbook at the end of 9th grade. And horses? What were horses?
Yesterday it all came back to me. The horse fever was as real again as it had been when I was just a girl. I went to see the new movie “Secretariat.” It’s a wonderful, inspiring motion picture-and I highly recommend it. And by the way Dad…about that promise-is the offer still good?
Watch this thrilling footage of Secretariat’s 1973 win of the Belmont Stakes!
Love this story. I wasn't a horse lover but my sister was...not as much as you though!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim! My daughter isn't like me at all-she could take them or leave them. Her pet wish list has always been more exotic--hedgehogs, for instance! We've compromised with a couple of dogs, a guinea pig and a parakeet.
ReplyDeleteI can SOOOOO relate to this. I was "Horse Crazy" to the point that I would eat raw dry Quaker Oats from a dish pretending to be a horse while being "boarded" under our bumper pool table (which was my stall, of course).
ReplyDeleteLoved your story. Hope you get your horse some day. And what ever happened to George??!!??
That's so funny Lisa! I think we must be long lost twins. I ate the Quaker Oats raw too! (I would shake my head, snort and paw at the ground while I chewed!)
ReplyDeleteI wonder what happened to George myself. The signing of the yearbook was our first-and last moment together!