I once Owned a Race Horse

Tweet

Yes I did. A real live race horse. I even had chosen my racing colours. Someone gave me a race horse. A White elephant really. I did not know how to say no thank you back then. Anyway the horse was in colt and when she had the colt she died and I was asked to collect the colt. I took one look at this pitiful, puny, spindly legged animal and knew that it would not live. I said that I was keeping away from it because it was going to die.It was dehydrated, sunken eyes and skin and bone. It took all of his energy to take a breath. Then it would pause for what seemed aeons before taking in another gasp of air. I suggested giving it eggs and brandy beaten into milk - at least it would die happy. But it did not die it grew. I still kept away from it and this would prove to have dire consequences as it bonded with everyone in the family except me. So it grew and one day I looked at it and it was a very large sozzled horse because now they were giving it rum and eggs. But when I tried to bond with it and pet it his expression changed and he bared his teeth and made hostile noises between his hiccups - neigh hic hic neigh! The hics of course were because of the rum. So time passed and one day I realised that it was a huge horse who was out to kill me. He would drum his heels against the insecure door to his stable and would try to get out and bite me. He was housed at the top of our long driveway and each day I had to pass the horse to go down to the road to catch the local minibus to take me to school. The bus was filled with school children from the same school where I taught. One day the horse had escaped and came out of the bushes at me and I dodged her front hooves and ran like hell down the driveway into the waiting bus. All the kids were in uproar. It would do this constantly and every day a small crowd gathered at the bottom of the hill and, it is alleged, took bets as to see if I would make the bus before the horse. I would walk into my classroom and the kids would start whinnying. So embarrassing. I became a nervous wreck and when my husband saw me flinging the children's clothes into suitcases then he took me seriously and would escort me to the bus every morning. This worked well for a time but a few weeks later things really came to a 'head'. I heard the bus blowing and my husband was in the b/room and told me to go on my own. I went to the corner of the house to peep around to see where the horse was and the horse simultaneously put his head around the same corner and our heads collided. We both screamed/neighed in fright and took off neck and neck, down the hill to the bus. It was disputed whether I won by a nose or a short head; but what is not disputed is that I won! Tell me, did you ever own an animal that not only gave trouble but actually hated you?