A is for Anahid

I love words, wordplay, names and lists, so it's not surprising that I also loved Karen Crossley's idea of writing about her model horses in an alphabetical fashion. 

As we started nearing the end of the alphabet, I had an idea for another alphabetical series. 

horse letters by Alecia Underhill

Well, actually Meredith had an idea, and I swiped it.

So without further ado, here is the first post in my alphabetical horse series.

When I was eight years old, I attended day camp at Zorthian Ranch for Children.

This eclectic camp was run by local artist, Jirayr Zorthian, and his wife, Dabney.

Located on forty five sprawling acres in the the Altadena foothills, Zorthian Ranch was equal parts farm, art gallery and commune. 

The camp was very free form with very little structure. There were no groups, and campers were allowed to make their own schedules.

Even though the camp offered a whole host of activities including swimming, art, music, drama, sports, dancing, ecology, story telling and creative writing, there was only one thing I cared about: the horses.

I would spend hours hanging around the ring, begging for rides. 

Occasionally, someone would shoo me away, saying I needed to do something else. When that happened, I'd go the arts and craft room...

or visit the horses that had the day off in their pasture.

It was there that I met a skinny, blaze faced, chestnut mare. I don't know why, but was love at first sight.

I asked about her and was told that she was named Anahid, after the Persian goddess of the moon. She was recovering from some kind of illness, which was why she was so thin.

It became my mission to feed her small handfuls of grass in hopes that she would regain enough strength so I could ride her.

My strategy worked!

On the last day of camp, parents were invited to attend with their children. It was a busy day, and all the horses were saddled up, including Anahid. Her saddle was much too big for me, but mercifully, I was allowed to ride her anyway. We even trotted! I was so happy.

A is for Anahid, the first horse I ever truly loved and the perfect beginning to my personal equestrian alphabet.