Talking Horse

This afternoon I was on all fours on the lawn, prising up thistles, when a horse and rider passed by up the lane. Clip clop, clip clop went the horse. Then it must have seen me through the hedge, because it went, clip scrape clipperty-cloppartycloppa. I heard a girl say, "It's only a man," and the horse, which clearly understood english, went back to going clip clop, clip clop.

I suppose, in the presence of an english-speaking horse, 'it's only a man' was fair comment. Trouble is, it's almost become a mantra for our times. And I was really trying to dominate those thistles, which will never take me seriously now.