Hi! my name's Ellen, You haven't heard of me before. That's not surprising really because I've
only just arrived from
I come from a village near
I had better tell you about my life.
I am four years old but have had a wealth of good and bad experiences.
My mother was very good to me.
Because of this my first year was a happy one. But
sadly, after that, my life went down hill rapidly and only
picked up a week ago. . I was sold, I hate that word being applied to living
things. Humans don't sell each other so
why do they sell horses? Oh well, I was sold anyway. I was transported across Ireland to a stable
on the other side of Dublin. I walked in
to that yard feeling uneasy with the situation.
"I'm missing my mother,
that's all." I told myself.
. But that didn't explain away my
feeling of fear. I was stabled in a box
with a scant covering of straw on the floor..
I knew that I must be in one of the worst stables in Ireland. The Irish are famous for the quality of their
horses. I watched as the door was closed
and the miserable stable Lad walked away.
"what a bloody awful place!"
I thought miserably. As I had
forecast, my time in that stable was
probably the worst experience I had ever had of riding stables. I am not libeling most or even some stable
owners in Ireland, no, the majority are very good and I have got no
complaints against them. But the owner
of this stable establishment was possibly the worst in Ireland. The box I lived in had a minimal amount of straw
on the floor. Conditions in that place
were awful! It upsets me to think of
it. My condition fell off rapidly. I went from being a healthy mare to a wreck
of my former self. Within three months I
was declared unfit for work by the vet.
"I'd better sell her then."
The owner said. The vet gave the
owner a strange look.
"This horse was a picture of health only two months ago. Have you been mistreating some of your
horses?" The owner became very
distracted.
"Oh no! There's nothing wrong
with my horses. They're fine, just
fine." The owner said
hurriedly. I could tell that the vet
wasn't convinced. I felt sure that
within two years the stables would be closed down and I would be on my way to
another home. I was taken back to my awful
hell hole of a stable. I desperately
wanted to escape. I tried to tell some
of the other horses.
"I don't know what you're talking about." One said.
"you were born here weren't you?" I asked.
The large dappled horse I had confided in said,
"Yes, I was."
"So you Wouldn't know anything different then." I said.
"No, I suppose I wouldn't." he replied. I wondered what they would think if I
arranged an escape attempt. I wondered
how some of these horses survived it. I was
determined to get out. I had had a
better life than this! I was not going
to throw my life away in this hole. So,
one night about a year and a half later I opened my door and walked out into
the yard. Some of the horses watched me
go.
"Where are you going?"
one grey rather dispirited filly asked.
"Away to a new life." I
said. The filly's eyes registered huge
interest.
"Can I come with you?"
she asked.
"Well, yes if you like. But
it's going to be dangerous. We're likely
to be captured and put back here, but there's no harm in trying. I released her door and she and I escaped
veer a field and a back road.
"What's your name?" I
asked the filly.
Pippa." she replied.
"Well Pippa, I’ll be open with you and tell you that we're in great
danger here." Pippa gave me a
sideways look.
"You mean we're being followed?" she asked nervously.
"No, I don't think so, but we'd better be careful. Travel at night if we can, avoid populated
places. That sort of thing aught to get
us through all right." I had never
seen a horse look so frightened. Pippa's
eyes were as wide as soup plates. She
swallowed hard and fought with fear and terror.
"I'm beginning to wish I hadn't accepted your
invitation." she said.
"You can go if you like.
I'm not stopping you." I
said neutrally. If I had put any
expression in to my voice Pippa would have turned back and that would have been
that. I wanted her to stay. I knew she wanted to get out, but quite
naturally she was terrified. Pippa
looked at me steadily.
"I, I, I don't know."
she faltered. Pippa swallowed
hard again. I knew she felt sick. I felt sick, fear and dread of what might
happen if we were captured haunted my thoughts.
By this time we had reached a river.
"No bridge, how are we going to cross it?" Pippa asked.
I thought this a stupid question but let it pass on account of Pippa's
mental state.
"Swim it." I
replied. Pippa's expression told me she
was frightened of water.
"I can't swim! I'm
frightened of water, always have been.
Let's find a bridge Ellen."
she whimpered. I looked up and
down the river, but as Pippa had said, there was no bridge.
"Either we swim across, or I swim across and leave you
here." I said. This sounded brutal, I know it did. But I had to tell Pippa that this was
serious. Pippa gulped.
"I suppose." she
said. I found a peace of bank and we
walked into the water. Pippa gasped as
the cold water closed over her legs.
"You're saying we'll have to swim this?" she asked through clenched teeth. With that the river floor dropped from under
her feet and she almost sank out of sight.
"Help!" she
wailed. I swam back to her and took the
weight of her head on my shoulder to keep it out of the water.
""Now Pippa, swim!"
I commanded. She made a feeble
effort at it but it only served to slow us down. Putting all my strength into swimming I
managed to get us over the river. Pippa
was a dead weight on my shoulder. She
got to her feet when we reached the other side.
I struggled onto the bank feeling more tired than I had for ages. I flopped onto the wet grass totally
exhausted.
"Come on Ellen! Let's
go!" Pippa urged.
"I'm shattered." I
moaned.
"If we stay here then we'll get caught." Pippa stated.
"I know that, but I can't go on now." I replied.
Pippa's eyes held desperation.
"You're not giving up are you Ellen?" she asked.
"Let me rest for a few minutes." I replied.
We pressed on after I had rested an hour and reached Dublin city centre
at five in the morning.
"Where are we going Ellen?"
Pippa asked.
"Back to my old home."
I said.
"Is it nice there?"
Pippa asked.
"Yes, it's lovely." I
said with feeling. We reached Paddy
Murphy's place at seven o'clock. As we
walked into the yard I heard a whinny I knew well.
"Hey Ellen!" My mother
kicked at her door until I came level with her.
She hugged me tightly.
"I'm so glad to see you!"
she said. I nuzzled her ear.
"I've been so worried about you Ellen." my mother said.
"Where did you get to? Why
are you here?" she asked. I told her about the disgraceful stables on
the other side of town.
"So you escaped, that's good."
she said. My mother then caught
sight of Pippa.
"Who's that?" she
asked.
"Oh I nearly forgot. This is
Pippa mum." I replied. My mother took a closer look at Pippa.
"You're hoping to escape from that place also." she stated.
Pippa replied,
"Yes, Ellen helped me."
Pippa looked from me to my mother and back again.
"You look so alike it's confusing." she said.
I smiled at my new found friend.
"We have been mistaken for each other before." I said.
My mother opened her box door and let us in. Three fully grown horses in a box designed
for one is a bit of a crush but we didn't mind.
"The director of the stable will be surprised to find you back
here." my mother said to me.
"Yeah, I suppose so. But he
won't turn me out and send me back to the hell I've escaped from." I said certainly. My mother rubbed her nose against mine.
"I'm glad you're back with me." she said sincerely.
I felt happier than I had for a year.
Being back with one's family is the best cure for illness. I was extremely out of condition, my hooves
were in a state, I had one shoe missing.
But inside the shattered exterior I knew I was fine. All parts worked as they should.
The director came round to look at his horses. He had to take a second look when he saw me
and Pippa.
"Oh well Jess, your Ellen's returned then." he said.
But he took another look at Pippa.
She wasn't white like my mother and I.
She was a chestnut filly and stood out in a stable yard full of grey and
white horses.
"You're not from round here."
he said. Pippa looked at the
director pleading with him.
"
Don't send me back there!" she pleaded.
The director didn't seem to understand however. He took a pace backwards and removed his
mobile phone from his belt.
"Hello, is that James Neil's?
I've got one of your horses here."
He looked at Pippa's identification markings.
"Yes, number 1233-DK."
he said. There was a rumble from
the other end and then the director spoke again.
"All right, I'll see you in
an hour." Pippa squealed in pain.
"Don't send me back there!
It's hell!" she sobbed. The director might have been uneducated in
the equine language but he knew a distressed horse when he saw one.
"All right dear, don't cry."
he said.
"You don't understand! That
place is awful! Ellen escaped from
there, I came with her. Please don't
send me back there!" she
whimpered. The director stroked Pippa's
nose and ears coaxing her into silence.
She eventually calmed down and we waited for the arrival of James Neil's
horse box. It arrived sure enough and
the moment Pippa saw it she began to scream.
"Don't make me go back there!"
she sobbed. The pain in her eyes
was almost too much for my mother. I
noticed that her eyes had tears in them.
"All right, let's be having you." the man from the hated James Neil stable said
roughly. He took hold of Pippa's mane
and tried to urge her forward. The
stupid bloody man had forgotten a head collar.
Pippa raised her head in the air and dug her hooves into the
ground. She wouldn't move. The man from James Neil’s lost his cool and
shook Pippa's head roughly.
"I'll fix you." he
said. Pippa shook from nose to tail by
now.
"Ellen, do something!"
she pleaded. But what could I
do? I couldn't attempt some heroic
rescue. That man had a whip and who
knows what else in his van. I think his
resources even ran to a captive bullet,
and I felt that he wouldn't hesitate to use it.
The man came back with a whip in his hand. Pippa shrieked with terror!
"No! No! No!"
she yelled. The man then did something
I'll never forget as long as I live. It
was so cruel that it left a deep impression on me. He whirled the whip around his head and
slammed it down across Pippa's neck.
There is no protection there. If
Pippa could vomit I think she would have done from the pain of it. I saw it in her eyes. As the leather whip connected with a hard
crack Pippa gave vent to the most awful scream I have ever heard from a
horse. It was full of fear, pain,
terror, anger, and hatred. The man
pulled on Pippa's mane ripping out handfuls of hair as he did so. Pippa kicked out at him. The man ran back to his van and dived inside
for something else. He came out with a
long tube.
"That's a bolt!" my
mother wailed.
"Bolt? What's a
bolt?" I asked.
"A captive bullet Ellen!
Don't you realise what's going to happen?" I needed no telling!
"I'm not going to let him do this!" my mother said. The man ran back into the box brandishing the
tube. My mother stepped across Pippa's path
and shielded her. The man lost his
temper totally. I watched in horror as
he placed the barrel against my mother's head and pulled the trigger!
"Mum!" I yelled. There was an awful bang! then a flash, then I saw my mother flopping
on the straw. I nuzzled her shoulder
coaxing her to get up. She never
moved. With a sick feeling I realised
that the man had killed my mother."
The man from James Neil’s had since made another attempt to force Pippa
into the horse box. She wouldn't go.
"Pippa, go with him! If you
don't then you'll end up like my mum!"
I told her. Pippa looked at me
and I saw her devastation.
"I'll never forget you or your mother. Thanks for everything." she said sadly. I watched her be taken away in the horse
box. The director looked down at his
dead horse.
"Why? Oh why?" he asked.
He looked at me. I felt grief and
anger. Tears rolled down my nose despite
my attempts to stop them.
"I know how you feel Ellen."
he said. I put my nose up to him
and let myself go totally. I must have
cried for a good hour. The director
tried to comfort me as best he could.
"She died saving Pippa's life." I sobbed.
The man didn't understand however.
A few days passed. During that
time my poor mother's body was taken away and that was the last I saw of
her. I still felt that my world had been
destroyed by that man. I had cried
enough. I couldn't cry any more. I just felt a gnawing sadness that I couldn't
shake. I was three years old now and
apart from the first year my life had been hell.
"Now my mother's dead."
I thought.
The director decided to sell me.
I was transported to a horse fair a month to the day since the death of
my mother. I waited in the sale ring
looking at all the buyers looking at us.
I tried to present a happy image but I was so depressed I couldn't put
any go into it. In the end I reverted to
my down cast state. The woman I now know
as "The Manageress" came along
to see me in the early afternoon. She
quizzed the director on all sorts of things.
"What was my breeding like?
How did I react to being in harness?
What was I like towards children?
Did I have any health or psychological problems?" and that was just for starters. I instantly warmed to this newcomer. She seemed to have a pleasant nature and an
understanding of horses that went far beyond just caring for them. I felt I might want to stay with this female
human. I made this quite plain to her.
"I'll take her." the
Manageress said. So that was that. I had been sold to a stable owner from
England. I heard she lived in a place called
Suffolk, wherever that is. I was
transported from the fair to a waiting D.C. 4.
I was loaded onto the plane and boxed in with wooden panels. These were lashed into place with steel bars,
and pins secured the whole lot together.
I stood on a tray filled with peat.
I watched the men building my prison.
In time the last banding bar and pin were locked together and I heard
the outside door slam shut.
"Here we go." I thought
resignedly. I had never flown
before, I was scared and excited at the
same time. Then I Heard a voice I
thought I recognised. The woman who had
bought me suddenly appeared from nowhere.
"That's good." I
thought. She came into my box and
started stroking me.
"You'll have to come out of there when we take off." another Lad said. The woman looked at him.
"I know what I'm doing, I've been doing this sort of thing for
longer than you've been out of nappies."
the manageress said crossly. She
turned to me.
"Ignorant sod isn't he."
she said. I butted at her
playfully.
"You're a good horse aren't you." the Manageress said. I rubbed my nose against her coat. I didn't know why but I was anxious to tell
this stranger everything about my life!
Without warning it just poured out.
I told her about the year with my mother, about the nasty two and a half
years at James Neil's place, about my escape with Pippa and finally about my
mum's death. It all rushed out, and, do
you know what? The human seemed to
understand Every word I said!
"It's good to have a human that understands your
language." I thought. In time the Manageress had to leave me.
The plane took off and we climbed towards the sky. I began to feel strange as we gained
height. Then I felt the plane turn to
the left out of Dublin airport. We
increased speed and flew on. After an
hour we dropped down and thumped into the tarmac at Stansted airport. I braced my legs against the pull of the
aircraft as we slowed down. Then the
miniature prisons were dismantled and my new owner led me from the plane to a
waiting horse box. We travelled through
countryside not unlike that of my native Ireland. In time we pulled up in a car park next to a
stable block and a restaurant. We were
right out in the Suffolk countryside. I
was led out of the horse box and led into my stable. I am between Natasha and Candy. They're great company and I'm getting along
fine. Rosie's taken to teasing me about
my Irish up bringing. She's not
offensive about it. She keeps reminding
me of the fact that I'm a "proper" Irish Draft horse, while she is
not. Well, she wasn't born in Ireland.
"You've got several pints of Guinness up on me." she said once.
"Guinness? I hate the
stuff!" I replied.
So to the present day. I am still
getting over my mother's death. I'll
never forget how she died. The other
horses in the yard are amazing. They
listen to me and never judge if that was the right or wrong thing for my mum to
do. Natasha must have heard the story a
thousand times but she never tells me to stop telling it.
"It helps to talk it out of your system." she said.
I have been filled in on the history of the yard. I have been filled in on Jingle's operation
to restore her sight, the year of terror, the leadership contest, the fire and
much, much more. Hang on, I'm getting the life bashed out of my nose.
"Hey Ellen." I look
round to see Jingle standing there watching me.
"What can I do for you Jingle?" she looks at me strangely and then replies,
"Nothing much I just wanted
to see how our newest resident was getting on."
"Oh just fine thanks. I'm
telling this story at the moment."
Jingle nods knowingly and walks away.
I decide that I like this herd and want to stay here in England.
Phew! That's that.
I, MARTIN WILSHER, here by assert and
give notice of my right under section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 to be identified as the author of the foregoing article.
© Copyright Martin Wilsher 1998-2000
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