#chestnut mare

A Chestnut Anglo-arabian mare. Hear me out: equine therapy. Marilyn must have heard about it, and maybe at one point she finds a nice looking stable offering day-rides, and maybe she wants to get some fresh air and it’s not that far from her flat and— Anyway, she loved it, she also found that her knee didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. She found herself wanting to go back, loving the warm and calm energy of the horses and their soft noses.

One of her acquaintances noticed her interest and offered to give her informal lessons with her own horse, a retired show-jumping mare. Her friend tried explaining that mares have a reputation for being hormonal and difficult to work with, and that Chestnut horses tended to be more chaos-prone than others.

Hormonal, she could understand, especially if they were surrounded by idiot young stallions when she had been a multiple time national winner. The colour? She was reserving judgment on that one.

When she met Brimstone, she was taken aback by her fiery coat and temperament. Her friend showed her how to brush the mare, and Marilyn hesitated only a little before finding the activity incredibly meditative. As she learned to pick the hoof, she felt a little nip on her butt, and let out a yelp before standing back. She was shocked to see the argument between her friend and the mare, never before thinking there could be such a thing. Although her friend insisted on finishing, Marilyn persevered and managed to not get bitten anymore even as Brimstone kept a upset face.

Over time, she found herself offering to help her friend care for Brimstone, and slowly learning how to ride. She wasn’t planning on starting competitions, but she did like the idea of being able to canter in the forest and jump over fallen trees with her friend by her side. Plus it kept her in shape. She learned that Brimstone was possibly the most inquisitive horse in the stable, always wanting to understand new things, like new boots or new gloves (which she threw across the hall. To test their durability of course). She also didn’t bolt at things, unlike the other horses, she stood her ground and investigated. Marilyn grew to love that mare, and understood exactly why her friend loved her horse.

Eventually, her friend mentioned that she was looking for a new horse with which to enter competitions, but the cost of both horses were just a little over her budget. They decided to split the boarding for Brimstone, so Marilyn would have a leisure horse.

“Hell hath no fury like a chestnut mare"

So this got away from me a little, but I was motivated. It didn't come as easily as the others, since the concept didn't lend itself that well, but like Marilyn, I persevered!

I will be doing more of these when inspiration strikes, worry not, though I will -eventually- start on adding horses to many universes.

Image sources, from top to bottom, left to right:

Carina Maiwald

Carina Maiwald

New York Ballet's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Frederick Ashtons' article

Find the Facebook post here

Yvonne Strahovski in Chuck (S04 E14)

Ron Kimball on KimballStock

Photo by Raphael Schaller on Unsplash

Carina Maiwald