Guest Post: Sarah and Maggie Tell Wink's [fairy]Tale

As I hinted when I last blogged about Sarah's visit, there were some pretty epic glamour shoots when she came to visit. The first one was on the Friday that she was here and featured Wink. His owners kindly gave us permission to steal him for the afternoon before his lesson.

We bathed him, though he didn't quite come clean. Sarah, you should have come down a few weeks later, he's gleaming and white, white, white right now! 

Then we took him gallivanting in the woods, where I discovered that there are very few glamorous things about glamour shoots! By the time it was all said and done, I was dripping in sweat and had  hair sticking to my mouth, cheeks, and forehead. My make up was running and I was ready to strip off all eighteen layers of my beautiful thrift store dress. Despite all that and the fact that I nearly face planted in the process of getting on Wink*, Sarah managed to get some incredible photos. We even let Wink loose in the Pine Barrens, keeping him firmly tethered at my side with a bag of horse cookies, which we conveniently stashed under my gown.

*Wink, for his part, was a very good boy. He's coming six and had never been ridden bareback. My initial leg up was less than gracefully and the dress swished and flapped all over. After some ear flicking and concerned glances, however, he didn't even seem to notice the shenanigans. 

But enough about that... I think Maggie and Sarah do a way better job telling this tale than I do:

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there trod upon the earth a creature unlike any seen before. No one knew what he was, and as a youngster, his excessive hair growth had earned him the shun of his peers. Although his body grew into the hair, still no one would be his friend.  He began to believe that he was unlovable.  :(

That is, until one day, when a beautiful girl (who loved wearing dresses all of the time) stumbled upon him while out for a wander.

This creature needed someone with courage.  Someone with a need for speed...a need for a connection. And someone who didn't care too much about their nails.

Someone who would understand the dual nature of this beast.

Mother Nature had looked amongst her children to see who could take this creature and bring forth the best from it, and whose best would be brought out by the creature. She found her, and brought them together.

The Girl said “I shall call you “Horse”, and you will come to mean more to the girls of the world than any other creature on the earth. Except maybe the cat, but no one controls them.” The Girl stared deep into his soulful eyes.  The world grew smaller and larger all at once.

Horse followed Girl faithfully from then on, but there came a time when Girl looked upon Horse and said “I want to fly, but how do I speak to you?

You do not speak the tongue of humans, and I can not speak the tongue of horse.”

So she took from the land metal and leather, and created a thing of beauty to adorn Horse’s head, a tool to communicate, never to punish. "Unless you ignore my leg cues, then I shall punish you with the fire of a thousand burning suns."

He looked so handsome in his new headware, but he did not know it yet.

But the Girl knew that she had stumbled upon something very, very special.

Girl then leapt upon Horse in a wholly graceful manner, in which she did not get her dress caught underneath her at all. She ventured out to explore the forest, glancing over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

She looked left...

And she looked right...

And she looked behind again, for good measure.

But the forest was quiet, and she soon relaxed.
She noticed her legs moved in time to Horse, and she felt she truly was a part of him...

They were one with the trees.

And the forest grew in around them, creating a safe cocoon.

The Girl marvelled at the gift that had befallen her.

They rode for what felt like days.

Finally, they emerged into a clearing, a sandy reservoir that had once held the water of an ancient ocean.

And suddenly, Horse was infused with spirit!  Visions of running and playing as a colt flooded his mind, before he was weighed down with the woes of the world (and all his hair).

And then, touching her heels to his sides, she was flying! At first, Horse went so fast that Girl thought perhaps she should not have let him eat those wild oats earlier.

But soon, he settled into a rhythm and she could not help but smile the broadest of smiles.

The sun shone down harshly on the pair, and a sheen of ladylike perspiration accompanied the Girl. She realized they were in need of water. None would be found in this desert, so it was time to make tracks...

She questioned Horse's choice to trespass, but figured he knew what he was doing. The Girl was someone who understood the rules, but broke them when it meant adventure...

However, even she was surprised when they discovered a magical basketball court!  Now, basketball courts are not usually magical, but a ball appearing in her hand was, and her arm, as if controlled by Mother Nature herself, extended upwards and dunked the ball in a way only a goddess could dream of.

As the ball landed, it bounced once, then twice, then rolled resolutely in the direction of... water!
You see, it was a water witching ball.

Girl studied their surroundings to ensure this was not a trick...

Then, when satisfied, she allowed Horse to drink from the serene lake.

As Horse lifted his head from the cool reprieve, he noticed another horse in the water, where there had been none before! At first he was frightened, but then, in a moment of awe, he realized it was himself he was looking at. And he was confused, because he was not unattractive, as the others would have had him believe all these years. His hair fell in a silky shroud around his soft face, and his eyes told the story of many trails traveled.

The Girl, meanwhile, had also come to a realization.  She thought to herself,

Despite the funny whiskers...

Despite the size of his butt....

And despite him having longer eyelashes than her...

She thought Horse was perfect.  It was love.  In fact, Girl thought to herself, "All these traits could help me find how to love a man. The excessive hair, the butt...the funny whiskers...."



And so it was that Girl and Horse stayed together evermore, to inspire each other for years to come. Where they would go next, only time would tell.