Bling Bling

Four giant hooves, a white coat and a rather insatiable appetite for fruits. I never thought it was possible to form an everlasting friendship with an animal... for myself at least. I had pondered the meaning of what attachment really meant for a while in my young life but it seemed humans had been more focused on talking than listening.

My Bling Bling wasn't just a horse, he was the companion who listened and in turn I had to listen. The energy that I gave was greatly reciprocated, the mute therapist I called him. He was very nitpicky with who he liked and I felt a sense of belonging when I noticed, and well everyone noticed that he picked me. At 14 years old, my mother and I drove to the Dominican Republic from my hometown of Port au Prince, Haiti in search of the perfect horse for me. I had begun to show responsibility and commitment to the sport and my parents were ready to invest in my passion. I had spent months immersing myself into the life and career of my favorite equestrian Marcus Ehning and his horse Cornado. Cornado was a white Dutch Warmblood and when he stepped in the ring, he radiated confidence, and certainty. I was just happy to go and ride, and have the opportunity to get a horse but secretly I wanted mine to look exactly like Cornado.

We arrived at a small stable, my trainer had worked with the previous owner of Bling Bling for about 2 years, and the only reason they let me even see him was because the owner trusted my trainer and considered her to be family. Bling was like his child and he wasn't going to sell him to just anyone. As soon as I walked in, there he was in all of his magnificence. He was the only white horse in the stable, and so he stood out like a jewel. Bling Bling. My heart melted, I couldn't retain my excitement at 14 so there I went, running into the stall of a 1200 lb. animal with a mind, body and soul of its own, without a thought in mind.

" Alexia! Don't run up on him like that" Everyone around shouted for me to be cautious but before they could finish their sentences my arms were already wrapped around his long neck that smelled of hay and leather. Bling didn't move, he began tugging on the back of my shirt playfully and I thought of it as his way of hugging me back. It felt like two best friends had been reunited after years of separation and yet we had no clue who the other was. I always knew horses were beings of another spiritual caliber, that their eyes told stories of the past and that they had knowledge to spare more than we have time on earth. But something about this interaction between kids made me feel as if this was going to be more than knowledge for the two of us, it was going to be growth. I quickly learned that Bling was as lazy as I was, but he was great at what he did and he made me great. We were both stubborn but I found that no one had forgiven me and saved me as much as Bling. Mistakes made in the ring, he could sense if I had a bad day and wouldn't apply myself to the lesson, he would have my back and in turn he wouldn't. The mute therapist. He had his own way of saying " leave your problems at home". When I would take a bad fall while jumping over fences, other horses would bolt and leave you on the hot sand, abandoning you to ponder why you even continue with the sport anyways. Not Bling, I would begin to fall and he would come to a complete stop and tilt his head down until my feet were safely on the ground. I think the most important part of my everlasting friendship with Bling is that he made me feel special and unique because of his hatred for other people and other horses. He was incompliant with anyone else that rode him, and despised small children much like I did. He would bite them and pin his ears back in anger when they approached him and me pretending to be disappointed but in reality I couldn't have been more proud. Bling and I quickly became mirrors of each other, and so if I was in a bad mood he would sense it and vice versa. I was a naive child and so was he, when I had my first heartbreak at 15, I was at the barn after receiving the text message that ripped my soul out. I was with my Bling, crying in his stall for an hour, he didn't say or do much except nudge my chest with his nose. " Come on kid, you're better than that" is how I interpreted his subtle intervention. When he got sick from a colic, I realized I was nowhere near as stoic as he was when it came to overcoming obstacles. I was walking him on the field as instructed by the vet, but his legs were weak and he couldn't stand. He collapsed onto the floor and there I went collapsing with him. He wheezed and I cried, petting his neck and burying my face into his mane. I cried so much I screamed, gasping for air. I had no idea what to do, tears flooded my eyes and I looked up at the sky, as my companion laid his head on my lap in what was a spiral of pain and suffering I could not begin to comprehend.

I learned that I had been communicating for years without ever saying a word to a being that didn't speak the same language as me. It isn't up until I turned 20 this year that I realized it was Bling who gave me the gift of reading people and soundless communication. Bling was home wherever we were, in a past life I know we knew each other and perhaps he was the human and I was the horse.