Horses | by Alexandraszanto | Oct, 2025

We went to the horse farm today. My daughter kept telling me that she would like to ride a horse. Being on holiday, we decided to take her even though the weather was not the best. It has been quite a while now that I kept hearing about this place – ‘The Horses in the Valley’- and she kept telling me she would like to ride a horse. After a billion are-we-there-yet’s we got to the farm. It stood perched on a small valley surrounded by hills covered with sharp green trees, punctuated here and there with a white globe of spring flowers perched on others.

As soon as we got there I fell in love with the place. The sky was dark grey and as we stepped out of the car, a few claps of thunder broke the quietude of that serene space. In the distance I could spot a few horses and some ponies on the pasture covered by a rug of thick vibrant grass. Passing through the rustic wood gates a familiar smell, intensified by all the dampness in the air, flooded my senses. On the left-hand side, two horses had stuck their heads out of their padlocks. Lily was extatic, and beneath the surface, so was I. There was this strange pull that had me walking straight towards them. I guess some things you simply never forget. I knew exactly what I should do even though I hadn’t done it in such a long time! I had no idea how long it had been since I last stroke a horse – might well be thirty years, maybe a little less. But in instances like this, time simply loses its value. A wormhole had opened and took me back in an instant. As soon as those big black eyes peered at me, I was completely under their spell. No one has to remind you to speak softly to animals and babies- your throat just switches on its own accord. I remembered not to make any sudden moves, but still, the horse backed up, that is until she heard my voice. Of course, I couldn’t tell. precisely what its gender was – just felt it was a mare. So, she came back and stuck her head out once more and something in her demeanour told me she was consenting to me petting her. I would have stayed there for ages, under her spell, if it were not for Lily’s excited pleas to head over to the other side, where the other horses roamed freely behind the tall fence. She was in awe of the ponies, but my eyes were drawn by the horses further afield. I wanted them near me, and decided I would try to summon them. I knew they heard the call as their fluffy tails started fluttering. A thought flashed through my mind: ‘Could it be so? Did I have a little bit of my dad’s gift?’. I could almost feel them assessing their next step.

Of course, Lily did not have the patience to wait for them to decide. She was like mercury, slipping and sliding in all directions, eager to explore. So we took the rest of the tour, and by the time we got back for the actual riding session, all of them were by the fence. It was a strange feeling, as if they came there at my call. I started to talk to them. You know, it’s the same kind of impulse that one gets when meeting a baby. For some unknown reason, you just feel the need to talk, to break the silence- to connect. Maybe it is because you know they’ll listen. Children and animals alike are like that; they expect it of you. They want to be seen, they want to be spoken to. Perhaps they want to be heard, and since they can’t do it themselves, you do it for them. It’s the strangest kind of dialogue one can have. Where you ask questions and answer them yourself immediately. And if we stop and analyse this strange exchange, you are not simply guessing the answers. They sort of come to you. And I think it’s not out of the blue either. There are hints and clues, gestures and movements we interpret in our interlocutor. But everything unfolds so naturally that we’re unaware of the silent exchange. An exchange that points to more than what meets the eye- an instinctive exchange that needs not be taught.

When addressing animals or babies, people instinctually change their tone of voice. Have you ever wondered why that is? It’s just as if there’s a hidden switch that gets turned on, but why, and to what effect?Conversely, when people fail to do that – the exchange is usually unsuccessful and the connection lost. Looking at it from both ends, I would say that it’s not that important what you say, but how you say it. Words have little meaning to animals or babies. This type of communication transcends words and maybe, just maybe if we learnt to use that little bit of instinctual wisdom to our advantage we could profit a lot. Imagine a serious fight with your coworker, or husband, or wife – when all of a sudden one starts cooing to the other! Who wouldn’t be completely disarmed? Oh, the perks of a divergent mind! This takes me straight to that exercise a woman used to practice – where she asks her pissed off interlocutor to repeat a string of ha- ha’s: “Ha……. Ha………Ha…..Ha, ha…Ha, ha, ha…Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.” And before you know it, you find yourself laughing your ass off. It never fails. Such a small little trick, but it fools brains without fail. Makes you wonder, what else might have our brains all tangled up. How many millions of times have they misinterpreted situations? How many times have they been fooled to make us believe we’re in danger, or even more dangerously made us think we’re perfectly fine?!

Lucky for you, Xena – the warrior princess- a foxy-reddish coloured mare, is motioned by her handler to take Lily on! It’s the sort of red I immediately associate with freckles, or Ireland. Xena seemed feisty too, or did she feel Lily’s nervousness? I bet she did! I imagine she was bored to death- needing to be patient with trembling kid after trembling kid for hours on end. I pity her and the handler’s promise to let her off the hook when we’re done just confirms that assumption. I hope to God Xena can keep it together just this time! Yeah, mothers are selfish like that. ‘ Just take care of my daughter’, I whisper to her, letting her know I do understand! I wondered what she’d have to say about that, when all of a sudden, I get that little curtsey they do! This time, there was no doubt in my mind; something must have rubbed off from my father. ‘When had I decided to keep my distance from horses? Why would I ever do that?’. I can’t tell, but I swore right there and then that I’d find my way back.

I never wanted to leave!