Horses An Illustrated Treasury Author:Michelle Lovric (Compiler) Horses, swift and strong, have carried our history on their broad backs. Our most precious charges, our most urgent messages, our hopes and our fears have been entrusted to the horse. Nothing can quite compare to the horse's fluid lines, the sound of its thundering gallop, and the intuitive rapport between rider and mount. Horses are the her... more »oes and beloved friends of those whom they serve. The nature of the horse is filled with paradox: What other animal personifies pure power without aggression, possesses dignity with such gentle humility, and embodies both surging speed and endless patience?
The same beast of burden that helps us farm the land once provided a noble alliance in battle and also offers a dream-escape for the leisure rider. We have taken the image of the horse deep into our own language: our passions are "unbridled"; we can succeed if our spirits remain "unbroken"; we aspire to be "well-groomed". The ungainly first steps of the foal and its subsequent breaking-in have become metaphors for these stages in our own lives. Horse's hooves have stirred our souls, and writers and artists celebrate the sleek, prancing poetry of the horse.« less