No matter how long he stared at the fuel gauge, he knew that it would not budge. Out here in the middle of the countryside, in the middle of a forest, in the middle of the track that doubled as a footpath and road, he was stranded in his brand new Vauxhall, faced with a long walk. He'd even forgotten to bring his mobile phone, so there was no way of communicating with anybody unless he walked to the nearest phone-box, or...

Dad was a very special person to me. Here are a couple of special stories about Dad that tell you about our relationship. The first story is one set in the deep snows of a spring blizzard. We had about 4 foot of snow on the level with more in drifts. After the snow had stopped, Dad and Granddad turned to caring for the livestock. The cattle were fine as they were in along the meadows and in reach of hay. However, the wint...

Chapter Twelve - Nick I find Oasis’ family in the stands and take my seat next to Olivia. She passes me a copy of the program and I see that Oasis is coming up after two other people. “I just seen Oasis and she was a bit nervous,” I say to Olivia politely. “She’ll been fine, Nick. She’s always nervous before she competes but once she gets in the arena is fine,” Olivia tells me with a smile. “She was so happy that you can...

Chapter Nine - Oasis I grab the saddle clothes off the railing, put them in place on Marina’s back before proceeding to put the saddle on her. Once I have everything put on her properly and have checked that everything is secure, I put her bridle, reins and the bit on her. Once I have her fixed up, I lead her through the stables and up to the riding pavilion. When she is next to the blocks, I throw the reins over her head...

Chapter 15 A Gypsy Trick Sada has a strange vision as we ride out of the village. It’s getting ready to rain. Iris and we wrap ourselves tighter in our cloaks, but the prophet does not seem to notice the cold weather. She looks straight in front of her, transfixed. I can penetrate her vision, but the images are blurry and I can’t see everything. There are a lot of people. They speak loudly to each other, in a cacophony of...

The first time I saw Spotty, there were half a dozen kids on her back, and she was walking slowly around in circles. My friend Chris was crying, actually not crying but oozing. He was allergic to horses. He loved to ride, but it turned his face into a puffy, snotty, streaming mess. One day Chris fell asleep on a saddle blanket. When he woke up, he was fine...which is odd. Everything that is on a horse is on a horse blanke...

“Betcha,” the old man said. “No way. You always win.” said my mom. “Come on, you get Drummer if you win, and I get Sunny if I win,” Lee said. “OK,” Eloise said. Lee won his daughter’s horse. #### Mom and I drove up to the house and my uncle Jim was roaching Sunny. The clipper buzzed. Handfuls of glowing mane fell to the dirt driveway. “He’s just doing that to get Dad’s goat,” my mom said. #### Grandma sent me to the mailb...

My mom worked for a saddle maker who made a halter, designed for a bull, out of thick leather and heavy D-rings. Sunny was tied to the back of the F100. Mom sized a shoe against Sunny’s foot. She went back in the shop and beat it to the right shape. I was sitting in the back of the truck. Sunny reared back against the rope. His eyes rolled into his head. He dragged the truck. The halter broke. He was gone. Mom stood holdi...

I was a second grader. I had a fuzzy white puppy. It was a snarling fist-sized ball of sharp teeth. Three riders trotted in the driveway. My mom rode Sunny, a big golden palomino, up to me. “Do you want to ride him?” she asked. “Yes.” She boosted me up and I walked him around. My puppy followed, snarling and biting. Sunny stopped. I flapped my feet ineffectively to try to get him to go. He ignored me. I didn’t hear my pup...

A warm breeze buffets my hair and face. It first invites, then challenges a response. The breeze calls to my horse. It tugs at his mane and plays with his tail. He tosses his head and beseeches me to reply. His hooves tap impatiently at the earth. I sit still on his back; try to ignore the invitations. But yet, I am not immune to the calling. A quick, concise movement, I shift forward. My horse has his head. He bounds for...

Three girls were sitting in the gap between the roof and wall of a shed, holding barn cats. Pat, the oldest, mouthed “One, two, three,” and they dropped the cats onto the backs of three of the horses that were standing below. This wasn’t random mischief on the part of the girls, this was research. “Damn! Look at the bay buck!” said Eloise, the youngest. “Yea, we’ll leave her alone!” said Kathy, the middle child. “The pig-...

The first time I met her, I followed a herd of adults out into a green pasture. I ignored their dull talking. We were introduced, and her twenty-some-year-old daughter was there. Omni was pretty, even though she was old; all of her hair had turned white. She was swollen with her pregnancy. Beholding one of her brown eyes, I remember sensing warm, intelligent, gentleness, and feeling a curiosity about her oblong pupils. I...

I wasn't old enough to be in school yet. I worshiped my Aunt Missy, who fought forest fires in the summer. I followed her everywhere. I was given a silver hard-hat she had been issued by forestry. I wore it everywhere.I wore it as she invited me up on a horse.To ride behind her as she checked cows during calving season.She trotted. The hard little bill banged into her back as we rode. It hurt.She ripped the hard-hat off m...

The snag on the corner looked like a wizard. The tree was a part of hedge of green poplars that had been planted long ago by Old Man Tolkie, a Norwegian ship-builder who had lived near here in a house with a roof that was shaped like a ship's bow. The tree became a snag because it was the tallest tree at the top of the hill, and it got hit by lightning and burned. The twenty-foot tall, staff-holding, dark wizard looked do...

My mare had a colt. I named him Dhatu Senu after a fifteenth century Sri Lankian king I read about in a National Geographic. Dhatu put his nose in a porcupine. Horses do that from time to time because a walking porcupine kinda sounds like someone shaking a grain pan. My Aunt came over and gave him a slobber shot. His eyes turned glassy and his legs got wobbly as he got stoned. Then my Mom and my Aunt pulled the quills out...