Horse Story
by SealWyf, HSM team writer
There’s something about a horse — especially for women of my generation, who were girl-children in the 1950’s. We role-played horses, collected horse figurines, badgered our parents for riding lessons and devoured the novels of Walter Farley.
I doubt those books are popular now — the fantasies they discreetly hinted at have been replaced by the more explicit yearnings of “Twilight.” So I should explain that the central characters of the Farley books, and indeed of the whole genre of “horse stories”, were not their human protagonists. We tolerated Alec Ramsey — he was okay, for a boy. But the real heart-throb of the books, the reason we adored them, was the Black Stallion.
It was the genius of Farley that he never gave the horse a name — he was simply “The Black”. The books were formulaic and comforting, with just enough adversity to produce a thrilling tension as, once again, The Black won the race, outran the forest fire, solved the mystery of the Ghost Horse, and generally triumphed.
I have no desire to re-read these books. I am content to remember how I loved them, and to understand why. Much has been written about the erotic symbolism of horses for sub-teen girls of that era. And much of it was true. But there was another layer to the attraction — the very human need for personal power.
Remember what the world was like in the decade that followed the second World War. Shocked by violence, still scarred by the Depression, the middle class retreated into a desperate conventionality. Women hung up their welder’s outfits and returned to the kitchen. Men happily accepted their role as unquestioned heads of households. The nuclear family was celebrated in a hundred radio and television shows. And into this world a whole new generation of girl-children was born.
My generation. We never quite knew what hit us.
We got over it, fortunately. The Sixties put paid to the myth of the happy housewife and detonated the nuclear family. But that was still in the future — our college years, and beyond. In the 1950’s, what we had was horses.
Horses were power — a power we, as riders, could control. But control was not the object. There was no romance to a tame horse. The ideal was a half-wild creature, the horse that only you could ride. It didn’t bother us (or not much, anyway) that the human stars of the horse stories were male. We could ignore them. In our fantasies, it was always we who rode The Black.
Horse and rider became one — a centaur-like figure of freedom and power and blessed independence. And yes, of erotic energy. After all, powerful men are sexy. But having your own power is even sexier. Controlling the power of a beautiful, soulful, passionate animal — well, that’s way better than being stalked by a sparkly emo vampire.
I’m telling you this so you’ll have some idea of the emotions that the Drey Black Stallion Prop awoke in this middle-aged female soul. The first time I saw it in the Lockwood publicity stills and videos, my reaction was a resounding, unequivocal, “WANT!!!” (I think I left a message to that effect on Lockwood’s Facebook wall.) And, when it was released, it was the very first thing I purchased.
Once I owned the Horse, my next impulse was to do something with it — to turn it into art. I spent a long evening filming the Horse in every personal space that offered ironic potential. My initial aim was the obvious one — horsebomb the heck out of Home, and make a funny video.
But, as I was filming, I started to sense another subtext. Part of the humor was that my avatar was trying to interact with the Horse — talking to it, dancing with it, gesturing at it. But, being a prop horse, it just stood there. This would not have been an issue in a series of still photographs — you could imagine the Horse reacting. But in a video, it was obvious that I was doing all the talking.
Suddenly, this assymetry started to feel all too familiar. I’ve been in relationships like that. We all have. The ones where we’re doing all the work. And the other party just stands there, looking gorgeous, but contributing nothing.
I’m reasonably sure that most adults will know exactly what I’m talking about. And not just the women. “Prop horses” come in both genders. My “horse story” was edging into a “chick flick”.
So that’s how I edited it. I found a nostalgic soundtrack, and arranged the shots to hint at initial infatuation, shared adventures, eventual disillusionment and an implied reconciliation. Seal and Horse sail into the sunset on the Amaterasu. And he’s still dense as a brick.
And so my comic video turned into something else, something edging into the serious. But that’s just my interpretation. What you, the audience, make of this piece is up to you. If you want to see it as a silly showcase for a virtual object, that’s okay. It’s certainly that.
So, welcome to my take on the classic horse story, which somehow turned into a romance. He’s Drey’s Horse, but he’s mine as well. And he carries my own remembered past, my dreams and hard-won insights on his ambiguous, ironic, well-modeled, and maddeningly uncomprehending back.
April 19th, 2012 by SealWyf_ | 19 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer, who has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is obsessed with creating new aesthetic experiences in PlayStation Home.
Now that’s a horse of a different color! Well done, Seal.
Very nice Seal, loved your choice of music. I am glad you have joined the filming community we are developing here at the magazine. Hope to see more of your stuff soon!
I too am glad to see you making videos, and looking forward to you making more Seal.
This article is absolutely brilliant!
It’s been making its way around the office today and everyone loves it, especially the fantastic video!
Great job, SealWyf, and everyone at HSM!
Thanks so much! And thank you for creating such an epic item. Are we going to get more horses? I can really see, say, an Appaloosa, a Palomino, an Indian paint pony and a rearing white Lipizzaner stallion. (Horse obsession? No, not me…)
Thanks so much! And thank YOU for creating such an epic object. Are we going to get more horses? (Obsessed? No, not me…)
Double whammy!
Actually watched the video first. And loved it!
The article made for more love
*bows*
Woo hoo! *bows*
great article, like our habits! “wat a skill”!
OMG SealWyf! Well written. Well played. Well done! What you’ve done here has been like something coming from my own passion and heart. Horses ARE my heart’s passion. I have loved them with every breath I’ve taken from the time I knew what they were…and before..lol. So, I totally “get you” and where you are coming from with not only this article, but especially the movie. Beautifu! Very moving, ful-filling, and real for me. Thank you!
“My Friend Flicka” -- nuff said? No, seriously, I dearly loved the Black Stallion books when I was young. So much so that, for our honeymoon, I asked to go to Marrakech, Morocco. We went to the auction where the Berber tribes come down out of the mountains with horses and camels to sell. The Berbers demonstrate how well those fantastic Arabian horses respond to knee commands alone by riding them around in intricate patterns whilst firing their rifles in the air! That alone, is worth the trip to Morocco.
I saw my new husband haggling with one of the Berber chiefs while I watched the horses. “Oh, he is going to buy me a horse!”, I thought. But, after we were back in the car, our driver-guide said, “Oh, madam, you should feel so honored. Never before has any Berber chieftain offered that many camels for one woman!”. My husband smiled smugly and said, “And those were some good looking camels, too.”
Good looking camels…? Ha ha ha.
I read the Black Stallion series including the Island Stallion. I still have them somewhere. Great adventures they were.
Oddly perhaps, I never saw the movie, however I do have a dvd or vhs tape around here I think. I shall have to look them up.
Horses were something I and others asked for and when we got them (yep, the cardboard horse too) I was happy.
What a fun article. Hi Yo Silver and Get ‘em up Scout!
The movie was very good. It really caught the spirit of the first book, when Alec and The Black first met. I loved the Island Stallion books too — especially the first, the origin story. Like most series, the sequels never really caught the magic of those original visions.
That was so good Seal, naaaay I’ll say awesome! And hay, I really love the video as well. I too hope you make many more videos, but I dare not look a gift horse in the mouth. As always, I love whinny thing you do. Correction “anything”. I personally would love to see a Horseling.
Thank you, Olivia. My mane intent was to amuse, but it turned into an interesting tail along the way.
Well written and vividly received. Though I wish my avatar could sit astride this Black Beauty, I concede its presences as a catalyst for deeper emotions. Thank you for this article and the memories.
So where does one obtain this horse? I want one.
It’s in the Drey store, LP. It’s one of several “props” in the Furniture section.