Ugh, yeah, I've had to stretch on this one in case you couldn't tell with my rambling post yesterday. Mostly this was a book I just couldn't get into; there was a whole section of the of the book that did not seem to be related at all to the story. Anyway, I'm going to go for the obvious here.
Ponies!
Well, horses actually. There's a lot of horse racing in this book, and apparently a lot of fools gambling their land and livelihood (i.e. their land) on these horse races. These are races that took place in the woods and were not properly witnessed or anything like that, but I've definitely enjoyed watching a horse race or two in my time. And like the Skalas, my dad was the one who introduced me to it.
I think my first horse race was around the age of 8, we would have been either in Oklahoma or California at the time. For some reason my brain is telling me we were probably in California. We mostly went to greyhound races in Oklahoma, which was a completely different kind of spectacular. There is something about watching so many horses that represent decades of breeding and expense. There is a joy in taking in the scent and sound of the race track, and watching the faces of people who have staked claims they can't afford to lose.
Anyone who's ever been on a horse knows how difficult it can be to control one. I always marveled at jockeys willing to ride horses that weigh at least twelve times their own body weight. You have to be pretty ballsy to slap an animal with a leather strap who can turn you into jockey powder simply by rolling over. I've enjoyed riding horses on family vacations, although I haven't been in ages. Even though I'm always slightly intimidated by the animal, I always enjoy myself once the horse stops trying to brush me off.
I've never been one of those girls who was a horse nut, but I can definitely see the appeal. I think everyone should have exposure to an animal that is larger and more powerful than themselves. It gives us a perspective that we are not as bad-ass as we think we are. We're so used to household pets, that we forget what it actually means to have animals out there that can kill us and I think it would smack some humility back into the human race. Shark week be damned.
Also, happy 2nd anniversary to my sweetheart, who is definitely neither a shark nor a pony.
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