THE ARABIAN

Rose sighed happily. She had come so far! She had a wonderful mate, LightingRod, and was the mother of two sweet foals! She sighed remembering her jorney to America, the west, humans. And her mother. Her sweet, loving, faithful, mum. "Mum would be proud"  she thought.

Here is Rose's story, in her own words.

      I was born on a stormy night. I was an pure white arabian, a prized horse known for intelligence and the skill to live in the barren desert.  All the humans would do was trying to earn my trust. Yea, right. My mother was a wild desert horse and these men had stolen her and broke her spirit with violence, and I was determined to let her have that freedom again. With me. One night, a few weeks after being weaned, I overheard that we were being shipped to... America? What the heck is America? Well, how much different can it be from Saudi Arabia?

      The next morning we were prepared to be shipped out. Much to my dissapointment, there was no opportunity to escape. We were dressed in green and gold rugs, with bright gold knee wraps on all our legs. We were led into a rickety truck that rattled when we moved. We drove for what seemed like hours, and the air took on a salty, dirty taste and smell. Mother told me it was called the "pier"  at the "ocean" . Three dirty men opened our truck and gave us some water and oats, before leading us to a giant creature, bobbing in the so-called "ocean". 

       That next week was living hell. The humans had no idea how to raise a foal, so they put me in a corner of the lower deck, an isolated stall, my mother all the way across the ship. I had no contact, unless you count a little boy who stole my corn and oats, most likely for his horses, but i was too scared to react. By the time we were unloaded from the ship, I was so hungry, and you could count most of my ribs. I was a pathetic sight.

       Soon i spotted my mum, and reared up and screamed for her. My mum whinned back and reared knocking down the cabinboy holding her lead rope. She ran over andbared her teeth at the boy holding my rope. He jumped away from us. My mom turned to me, her eyes softening. She nuzzled me, and stood beetween me and the humans, daring them to face her wrath. Soon a man slowly approached us. he  looked kind, unlike the whip-holding men i often saw roaming around the ship. He came without a weapon, or anything to defend himself if mother chose to attack. He was using a silent language, it seemed. He was saying, "I mean no harm to you or your filly". I suppose mother under stood, because she slowly lowered her lips, covering her teeth. He slowly lifted his hand and held my mothers halter. "Whose horse is this?"  he shouted into the crowd. A tall, regal looking man, violently pushed his way to us. "Those are MY horses! Now hand them over or I'll call the police!" he shouted at us.I laid back my ears, and mother did too and bared her teeth again. "How much?" asked the kind man. "How much for what?!" angrily replied our cruel owner. "The horses. How much do you want for the horses?"  said the calm, kind man.                                                                                                                                          "Fifty."

        And with one simple word we were now the horses of a middle-aged farmer in New Orleans, Louisiana. he was a jolly man, and he often talked to us. As he led us away, we turned on to a lonely little road, with us as its only inhabitants. What I had thought in Saudi was very wrong. It was so green here! As we strolled along he said to us, " Welcome to America! I hope you dont enjoy New England too much, cuz' we're heading back to New Orleans as soon as New Years Eve is over. I promised my Mother to help out around her house." 

          "Eugene! I sent you to market to get some chicken and beans, not a horse and a foal!!!" yelled the man's mum. "Sorry ma!  These horses need some good ol TLC, and I could use some horses back at the farm." he replied. His mom said, " those horses are Arabians, hun. Only things they're good for is fancy ridin' or meat!" She exclaimed. "Dont say that ma! Every horse can be a farm horse if y'all train em right!"  our new master protested. Mother stood there eyeing the old woman. I could tell my mum didn't trust her one bit. " If you say so, son." She called, walking into the house. Master came and tied us to a pole and stepped away to get something. I took this chance and looked around, searching for a way out. There was a low fence, mum could make it, but not me. I knew she would never leave without me. Master came with a snake-like object. I took a step back, making my rope tight. Mum had told my all about snakes. Fierce. Deadly. Fast. He grabbed the snake around the neck and squeezed. WHOOSH! A stream of clear water streamed out and rinsed off my grubby coat. He sprayed mum too, and she lifted up her head and shook, getting Master all wet! 

      That night, Master placed a bucket of water and an open sack of oats at out feet. "Good night, my beauties. Sweet dreams" he whispered to us. As he walked by he gave me a scratch under my chin. That night me and mum had the best sleep of our lives! Back in Saudi, we rested fitfully, afraid of the cruel whip-holding men who would feed us, and bathe mother and me when we got dirty. But our new master was kind. I knew we would be very happy with him.... But what about living free, being wild? I fell into a deep dreamless sleep. The day after that was crazy. Drunk men were stumbling through the streets shouting, " 'AppyNewyear!", slurring their words.

      Later that day Master came with ropes, halters, and blindfolds. "I know trains are terrifying for horses, so y'all gotta wear these, little beauties.."  He covered mums eyes first and then me. He led us down a long dirt road, that turned to gravel. We heard a shrill whistle, and I pressed into master, who had become like a second mum to me. He rubbed the fur under my mane. I smelled smoke, and many people. Master led us up a small ramp and closed the creacky door. He took off our blindfolds, and i saw a cot in the corner, a manger of hay, and a bucket of water. I took a long drink of water and stood by mum. She came to like Master very much, and she nuzzled his shoulder. I had become a strong, noble-looking filly and he had come to grooming my snowy coat whenever he could. He dragged over a stool and began to gently brush my long slender legs.

        We where on this train for many hours, but not quite a full day. When we came off, all I could see was people, people, and more people. We walked down and a path cleared, awed people on all sides. They reached out to stroke my beautiful coat. We turned onto a paved road, that amplified my hoof beats. We walked for very long, passing many houses, but we made it to a very large country ranch. He led us to a wooden gate. He opened it, led us inside and took of our halters! My eyes opened it wonder. So much open space! I ran, ran, ran! I reared and bucked! I rolled in the grass! I did anything but keep still. Mum did too! Master laughed at us for a while and then went into the stable. I got curious and went over. The stable was open into the field! I ran in and saw him throwing hay and straw into a big stall. I heard a curious nickering and a tiny grey-black head peeking out of a low door. " Who are you?" He said to me. " Um, I'm Rose. Hi. Who are you?"  He smiled warmly and replied, " Well hello there Rose. I'm Leonard. You can call