As a child I was lucky enough to have, not one, but TWO horses. A very dear little Basuto pony named Coleford for riding in gymkhanas and a thoroughbred named Chestnut that I preferred to ride when not practicing for gymkhanas. Chestnut was an ex-racehorse whose beauty astounded me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get to ride a horse of this caliber but when he lost an eye in a pitchfork accident and he could no longer race, a neighbouring farmer bought him (for far less than he was worth). My stepfather rode over to look at him and knew I would love him so he bartered a prize cow for the chestnut which he then presented to me. Oh what a day!
When my stepfather died my mom sold the farm .... and the horses. I suppose I could have taken up riding at a later stage but I never did. When I found this poem by South African poet Colleen Higgs it evoked in me the poignancy of losing my horses.
MISSING HORSES by Colleen Higgs
My father's hands were big and tanned
the backs covered in dark hair
he was a sportsman
good at polo, golf, squash, darts, tennis
a man with exceptional eye-hand co-ordination
and he could draw horses
from memory
In the second half of his life
he missed horses, everyday,
horses were his inner life
he yearned for horses, to be among them
to ride them
to smell the hot sweat of horse after a polo match
to hold soft leather reins in his hands again
My father only once ever laid a hand on me
he wasn't given to hidings
he wasn't an affectionate man either, not to me,
I loved him because I knew
how sad he was about the horses --
my mother made him choose
it's either me or the horses, she said
Malen Pierson's found object sculptures are new to me. Have a look at his website here.
South African duo Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones are the co-founders of the Handspring Puppet Company. They created the life-sized war horse puppet. To find out more about this amazing puppet, watch the TED talk here.
