I was born in the tall grass of the bush. The sweet smell of the bush surrounded me. I was lucky to be wild, to run free and do what I liked. I loved the sweet milk I had, that made me strong.
There were other foals in the herd, like my friends, Blossom, Bindi and clover.
One day, we were playing tip, when we heard the sounds of yelling and the harsh crack of the whip. I was scared and started to panic, causing me to run around blindly, only to fall into the humans trap. I felt something around my neck, it was harsh and pulled me back. It was what they called a “lasso.”
I whinnied but there was no answer. As I looked around, I saw Blossom, Bindi and Clover trying to escape, but they couldn’t either.
The men pulled us over to this loud monster and made us go into it. I was terrified, and then it started to move! I was in there for about 2 horse hours (3 human hours) and then we stopped, and the men took us out. We bucked a bit, but it was all in vain. They just lead us into this weird smelling place which they called a “stable”
I had lost my pride. I was once a free foal, full of energy and the will to live. But they took that away from me, and now I had no will to live. I didn’t care, and spent most of the time with my head hanging low. At some stage, they sold us to a lady called Imogen.
She just let us loose in a paddock and let us do what we wanted, which made me happier again.
Until one day she decided to ride me. she put a heavy, uncomfortable thing on my back, and a cold, metal thing in my mouth, which pressed on my tongue, then climbed up and sat on me! I jumped with surprise and fright, sending her flying and I even managed to get that heavy thing off my back and the cold thing out of my mouth.
After that Imogen realised that all we had ever known was to be free, and that we were desperately unhappy. In the end, she flung the gate open and whispered “run free, go where you belong” and with the wind in my mane, I did just that, and eventually found my way back to my heard. It was good to be back, I was free again!
©Monika Gotthardt-Marshall, Nov 2007
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I wrote this when I was about... 10? I was so proud of it back then, haha! I have some more, i'll try and type them up as well.