3D5 THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES

CHARACTERS:

The village girl- she was the Navajo girl who likes taking care of the horses
Horses- they share a special bond with the village girl because she loves them
Handsome stallion- he was the leader of the wild horses and has mystical powers.

This is a story about a Navajo Indian village girl who loved to take care of horses. She gets up early everyday and leads the horses down to the river. She talked to them in a soft voice and they obediently followed her to the river bank. Many of the villagers observed that the girl shared a special bond with the horses.
One day, when the girl was out in the fields with the horses, it suddenly started raining hard. There was also blinding lightning and deafening thunder. All the horses got terribly scared and galloped as fast as they could. The girl tried to call on the horses and calm them but they couldn’t hear her voice. The girl was also afraid so she held on tightly to her horse’s mane as it galloped with the other horses.
The horses kept on galloping because of their terrible fear of the storm. When the storm finally passed, the horses were already far from their grazing fields. The girl and the horses were already tired from the long journey so they rested in the night.
The following day, the girl was awakened by a loud neighing. It was a beautiful stallion who was the leader of all the wild horses. She was happy to have met him and all her horses were also glad to be with the wild horses.
In the girl’s village, the people were still looking for her but they could find neither her nor her horses. After a year, some riders spotted a handsome stallion beside a colt which was carrying the village girl. She waved to them but the wild horses quickly ran away. The riders went back to the village and reported what happened. The men prepared to chase the wild horses and find the girl. They were able to get the village girl because she fell from her horse.
The girl went back to her village and was happy to see her parents again. However, they noticed that their daughter was sad because she missed being with the wild horses. Every night, the villagers could hear the stallion sadly calling out for the village girl.
One day, the village girl became ill and when she asked what would make her well again; she said that she would love to be with the wild horses.
The girl’s parents loved her so much and permitted her to go back and live with the wild horses. Her parents gave her some gifts before she went away. The village people gave some gifts to the wild horses. In return, the village girl gave her parents a colt.
At last, the girl was happy again with the wild horses. However, she never forgets her people. Every year, she came back to her village and gave her parents a colt.
One day, there came a time when the girl didn’t return to her village. Some hunters saw that there was a beautiful new mare with the wild horses. The village people were sure that the new mare was actually the village girl.
Today, Navajo people continue to remember that they have relatives among the Horse people and they are happy to know that the horses are free.

By: T. Jeni