Seeing a horse lying in a field flat out on its side is unsettling. Negative images spring immediately and unprompted to the mind of the horse owner. Well, to my mind, anyway. Horses are, in nature, prey animals, and as such, always alert for predators. A little thing like a sheet of paper blowing in the wind can be enough to spook some horses and send them fleeing. Even lying down, horses often rest with their feet tucked under them, keeping an eye on things. So when I glanced out to the field the other day and saw Ivory lying flat on her side, I felt uneasy. Was everything okay?
I walked down to the edge of the field. Ivory didn’t stir, though I could see her ear twitch. I called out her name and her head immediately popped up. She was fine. Apparently she had been far away in dreamland, a green pasture maybe, with heaps of carrots and orchards of apples. Sweet dreams, beautiful dreamer!
Willow House Chronicles 