It’s been a while since I thought of Socksie and many years since she was part of my life. Isn’t it fascinating how the mind works? One thought led to another and there SHE was – she simply popped into my mind as vividly as if it were today!

As a little girl growing up in post-war England in the 1950’s, life was fun – at least it was for me. I know my parents must have struggled monetarily after surviving the war and the aftermath that resulted in rationing of certain foods, difficulty finding housing and work, and a multitude of other challenges, but I was oblivious to all that. I was a happy, adventurous child in an England where it was the norm for neighborhood kids to play outside together until well after dark, free and “running wild” to explore the wonders of the small world in which we grew up. It was rural, it was safe and it was a simpler life.

A beautiful time.

Our street backed up to a large farm of rolling green fields. The view from my bedroom window was heavenly! My eyes feasted on the back garden which was the envy of the neighbors – small but beautiful and lovingly manicured by my parents. Our garden had something unique {besides Timothy the tortoise who nibbled at the young lettuce growing in the vegetable patch} it sported not one, but two fish ponds constructed by my folks, and in them were gold fish and chub, that we actually caught in a succession of fishing trips to the river Thames in Port Meadow, Oxford.

I loved all that, but what really intrigued me was what lay beyond the twisted, gnarly willow trees whose low branches leaned lazily over the small stream that gurgled alongside the bottom of our back garden. From this vantage point, I could easily climb through the fence … and did so often, usually accompanied by a friend!.  With a few strategically placed stepping stones, I was across the stream, through the jagged hole in the prickly hedge and into the vast wonders of the sloping green field.

Socksie’s field.

Socksie was my four-legged friend – no ordinary pony! You see Socksie was a beautiful retired white cart horse with enormous furry hooves. She was indeed large, and somewhat intimidating to a small child, but nevertheless she was majestic and she reigned supreme in her field. She owned it. She would toss her head showing off her flowing mane, swish her tail, flaunting her superiority at the lowly cows in the adjacent meadow who had to share a field. She roamed freely in her kingdom surrounded by tall thorny hedges on all sides, and if we sneaked into her domain, which my friend and I often did, we glimpsed yellow cowslips growing in clumps everywhere. The tallest wild flowers {and most beautiful} emerged from her horse droppings that we called “dung”. I’d say that Socksie had a good life in her well-deserved retirement. She’d clearly led a full and hard-working life as a farm horse.

It was exciting and titillating to sneak into Socksie’s field and dodge the dung heaps. If we crawled through one of several small holes in the hedge we could play undisturbed at the bottom of her field and if she was up the hill at the top end, she was unaware of our presence. It was fun to gather blackberries from the hedges at certain times of the year, or at other times to catch tadpoles in the stream. We were unnoticed by the grazing Socksie, but we kept a watchful eye out for her, because truthfully she scared us just a little – no wait – a LOT!

Socksie towered over little girls of eight or nine years old, and from our side of the field gate, we’d peak at her, timidly pat her neck and marvel at the size of her hooves, as big as our heads! As we played in the field at a distance, she wasn’t so scary, but up close we were in awe of this mighty steed. But she was a gentle soul really and welcomed the stale crusts of bread or fallen apples we brought her as treats. No problem so long as the safe barrier of hedge or gate separated us.

I’m not sure what motivated us to get brave enough to advance to that next step, to venture into her territory and hand-feed her the treats inside the field. I think we just grew familiar over time, as the “friendship” grew. It was a gradual process, getting to know one another, trusting one another. Respecting each other. Kind of like with human friends, but this was two friends and a horse.

How or why things changed, I don’t really remember. But I do regret it. Maybe we were ten by this time, and a little bored, perhaps seeking a new thrill, but we grew braver and bolder and soon we were horsing around with Socksie. We’d confidently enter the field and fearlessly approach her, bearing gifts – usually a basket of bread. As we approached, she’d see us and walk towards us … to greet her friends. As soon as she reached a certain proximity, we chickened out, dropped the bread and took off running like scared rabbits with our empty basket, leaving her to forage for the treats in the grass.

This happened over and over for several months. It became our game. We knew the boundaries and so did Socksie ….or so we thought. As we became more and more mischievous and enjoyed the thrill, we allowed her to get closer and closer before we dropped the bread and ran like sacred rabbits for the hole in the hedge.

But the game changed one day when we naughty girls took advantage of our horse friend and took to tantalizing this gentle soul with cries of “Socksie … Socksie here’s your bread … catch us if you can!” We’d run and drop the goods, time after time, and always she stopped to eat the gifts we threw down, as we watched safely from afar.

The game ended the day she didn’t stop.

The same scenario played out that day, just like other days. As she trotted closer, we dropped the bread, took off running and stopped to watch her eat her treats. Not this day! She cantered past the treats and picked up her speed into a full on gallop.

Heavens above! I could hear those thundering hooves pounding the ground, gaining on us, I caught a fleeting glimpse of flared nostril, her mane flowing wildly and her tail straight out behind her. And to top it off, she was neighing furiously at us, shaking her head and with lips curled back, she exposed her enormous yellow teeth. I heard what seemed like blood curdling screams coming from this beautiful creature. Not from her mouth though!

The screams? They were the high frequency screeches of two terrified girls running for the hole in the hedge.

What would become of us? I envisioned the worst. Those teeth embedded in my behind, losing a buttock and being deformed for life, a powerful head butt over the hedge and crashing into a heap on the road, a hoof to my head squashing it like one of the rotting cabbages Socksie ate! “Run like the devil” I screamed to my friend who was a faster runner than I and was in lead position.

What Anthea? Are you crazy? YOU are the one who needs to run like the devil! Every man {child in this case} for themselves! The friend was already running like hell! I was struggling to catch up – an easy prey for a justifiably enraged horse.

Almost there! The hole in the hedge was visible. My friend was through, I was almost there. I felt Socksie’s hot breath from her angry snorts, heard my own heart pounding louder than her hooves, and as I plunged through the tiny hole in the hedge, ignoring the scratches, rips and tears from the thorny brambles, I caught a forceful nudge from Socksie’s nose that added a great deal of velocity to my exit. I was through the hedge like a shot from a catapult! Socksie had kicked us out of her realm to return once more to her peaceful existence.

And us? Whew! We escaped injury and learned a valuable lesson in life from a horse.

Don’t tease animals. Always treat them with kindness and respect! Don’t tease people. Never laugh at someone else’s expense. Don’t take advantage of people. Never betray the trust of a friend. Not for any reason. Not for entertainment, relief from boredom, self-gain, instant gratification, or any other reason. Don’t take friendship for granted. Friendship is a precious treasure! Cherish it.

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson