Horsing Around in the Camargue

As a girl, I was fascinated by horses, but this isn’t that unusual. What little girl isn’t?

When I went to camp, I couldn’t wait to ride a horse, I was thrilled! And sneaky.

Previously, I had had to squelch my horse-desire with a saddle charm on my silver bracelet. My mother felt this was safest. Was she right?

At camp I fell off of Blackie. Well, I almost fell off, in true I-love-this-horse-and-even-though-this-horse-bucked-me-off-but-I’ll-never-let-go-because-I-waited-so-long-to-ride-him-fashion, my right foot stayed in the stirrup as I practiced riding around the ring, dangling on the side of Blackie as if I was doing some sort of circus act.

I was not.

In my novel, Tales of the Mistress, there is a gorgeous but feral and eventually white, but born black, horse from the region of France known as the Camargue.

Beaute helps Epi find her mother.

But how in the world did a horse, and a feral horse, who lives in such a remote and inhospitable region of the world come to live in my story?

The legend of the Camargue horse and it’s mythology utterly fascinated me. Couple that with the horse’s environment, which echoed Epi’s, even though Epi’s home, Ceres, is in another region of France.

Since the Camargue horse was the very picture of survival and thrival, could she serve as a guide for Epi?

You’ll have to let me know, please, if this intention comes across in the story.

A wonderful adventurer, survival enthusiast, farmer, and author, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, wrote several books about his and his wife’s amazing journeys on horseback. Two books in particular - White Horses Over France, with the Camargue Horse and Land of Eagles, about his trip through Albania, were instrumental in opening my eyes. These were long journeys with purpose - not frumped up excursions of luxury (nothing wrong with that, just not what I was looking for) and all the preparations that went into the journeys - really set my imagination on fire.

Epi knew that like her, Beaute - who was a present from her missing mother - was now also working for the Bread Guild. But it isn’t until Epi escapes that she realizes Beaute is in even more danger than she is. Epi sees Beaute is no longer the little black foal but a full-grown white horse, Epi is immediately frightened for her. A brown horse can hide from the Guild much more easily, than a white one. Beaute symbolizes the change that Epi has to also risk being visible in order to challenge come out of hiding too.

Then, from the same region, the Camargue, comes this story about the origin of these unique white horses.

One day Neptune the God of the seas was running around with his cart pulled by nine white horses. While passing through the Rohen's delta he saw a men swimming and complaining; it seems it was not happy to swim there. So Neptune got angry and asked him, pointing his trident: " Who are you? Why do you enter my reign if you don't need neither to fish nor to get pleasure?"

The man replied "I am Lou Camarguen, the Camarguese, I live in the Rohen's delta, a very beautiful place, where you can see the sky reflecting in the river."

Then Neptune, even more irritated, shouted: "Why do you keep complaining about my reign, if you live in such beautiful place?"

"Well, I am forced to live with a terrible black bull. As soon as he sees me, he keeps on charging me with his horns in the shape of a lyre. I am forced to run away and I only feel safe in your reign. During summer I am happy to feel the wind on the sea, but on winter is different: Aeolus sends the powerful Mistral and it shakes all trees and the sea becomes very ripply. All this is not good at all!"

Neptune often met and helped people in difficulty due to shipwrecks and battles, so he wanted to help the Camarguese too, giving him one of his horses. "This is the best horse I have, if you will manage to deal with him, he will be a very precious ally against that black bull. Remember, he comes from the sea and was led from a god, anytime he wants to run back to the sea, leave him."

The Camarguese thanked Neptune and started riding this animal and chase the black bull: nobody did that before.

One day the man observed the bull's horns and thought of Neptune's trident and found out a way to keep track of the bull; Nowadays in Camargue you can see men riding white horses and holding tridents in order to lead the bulls and white horses running free in the river.” 

Are you one of those lucky people who rides horses?

What horse stories have been favorites of yours?

Black Beauty?

War Horse?

Sea Biscuit?

Coal Black Horse?