I was one of those little girls that loved horses and I never outgrew it. I rode them at summer camp, but not since. I do love to draw and photograph them though.
I watched a documentary about Monty Roberts, the horse whisperer Robert Redford's Horse Whisperer's character is based on. It stuck with me and I tried it on some horses in the pasture next to a friend's house. She said they were very shy and wouldn't let themselves be petted. I shook my keys to get their attention and one came over, but wouldn't let me touch him. Okay, so I turned my back to him and walked along the fence, he followed. I walked back and forth along the fence and he started nudging me in the back. I rubbed his nose with my shoulder and kept it up. Eventually I was able to turn around and pet him with my hand. He was clearly surprised we had gotten to that point, but seemed to like it. I was awestruck, but not totally surprised.
I love horses, they're such amazing creatures. We can learn a lot from these gentle creatures. They are even finding service work helping troubled kids.