I always wanted a horse. I’ve never had one and maybe I never will but the dream was there – riding through the bush with the wind in my hair. My parents even promised me one. We had lived in the city and on moving to a coastal country town the promise of a horse was supposed to have been fulfilled.
Billy the neglected horse in Dingo, Qld, happily having a feed we provided from the scraps in our camp kitchen.
I guess my parents assumed their promise would never need to come to be. Probably they hoped I’d forget all about it and move on to other easier pets, like Guinea Pigs (which indeed we had). The thing was though, when we moved to this lovely town my new best friend owned a horse and was even in pony club. I was besotted with both. I didn’t even complain when for the first hour before riding my friend’s horse we always had to clean out the paddock of manure. I grew to love the smell with wet grass. I was never a great rider but I never fell off though I did prefer a canter to a trot, I struggled with the horses rhythm. Eventually I wasn’t too bad and felt safe all the way up on a horses back.
My parents were right though, very soon I lost interest in horses. Not because I decided not to want one anymore but more because I knew my parents couldn’t have afforded one and where would we keep it? Having a horse wasn’t practical for my family. We were in a coastal suburban block, not acreage or farmland. So I turned my love to my many other pets over the years, mainly dogs, but also birds (a budgie who I accidentally let out in the first week and cried for a day), mice, Guinea Pigs, frogs, turtles and cats.
Recently while working in outback Queensland (Dingo) we (my workmates and I) noticed a neglected horse. You can read about it at: Warm Witty Words. This incident renewed my love of horses. This particular equine creature was placid in nature even though it had been treated cruelly. We say Australia is built off the sheep’s back but it’s equally correct that it’s built off the horse’s.
Most city people only get to see racehorses Horse racing and maybe celebrate a betting win with them, so they love them for that reason. A country working horse, particularly cattlemen’s stock horses are beautiful creatures too and their owners love them not only because they are lovely but because they help them get their job done and have a connection to the land they work.
I just wish all country horses were treated with respect because the one I saw in Dingo wasn’t.
If you have any nice horse stories please make a comment.
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