
Emily Smith was born in England, although her father was Irish. She lived there until she was seven years old; long enough for her to have some lasting memories of the country. Emily lived in a small townhouse with her brother and parents. The building was rented for a fairly cheap price on account of the fact that it lacked the space and the garden that many people seemed to be lusting after in those days. As much as Emily loved her family, she had always been a rather independent soul, preferring to be outdoors than stuck inside. She spent much of her free time in an unusual manner. After school, she would go with her brother or parents to the home of a family friend, an elderly woman who lived on the outskirts of the town. The woman possessed a large field beside her house- a desirable piece of land which numerous builders had offered to buy, to no result. The land had been in the woman's family for several generations, ever since one of her ancestors had somehow scraped up the money to purchase land of his own. However, it wasn't the field that lured the young girl to the woman's home, tempting as the open space was. It was the field's inhabitant that truly transfixed Emily; a sooty buckskin horse by the name of Sandy.
In any other eyes, the pony was just another old gelding of unknown breeding. However, for the elderly woman, his owner, and Emily, he was something much more special. Emily learned from the woman that Sandy had been the horse that her children had learned to ride upon. Her children were grown up now and her husband, a man born in the United States, had died at a fairly young age. His legacy lived on, as he had helped to train Sandy as a Western riding horse. That was how Emily ended up learning to ride Western in the land that was the very namesake of English riding. Sandy's owner was a good teacher and was pleased that the old pony was getting some exercise. As for Sandy, he adored the attention that Emily gave him. In addition to riding, the woman taught Emily a lot about the various aspects of horse care. The three became something of a small, yet tightknit, team.
Alas, time does not simply bring humans and animals closer, but wrenches them apart in equal, if not greater, measure. A few days after Christmas, when Emily was six years old, Sandy's owner contracted pneumonia. She was rushed to hospital but, despite the efforts of the staff, she passed away. Emily was desperately upset, but poor Sandy was heartbroken. The young girl tried to coax the old horse to eat and drink, struggled to keep him in a healthy condition, yet her efforts were all in vain. What little sustenance Sandy took was consumed purely for Emily's sake. He lost weight and, the day after Emily's seventh birthday, he lay down in a corner of the field and breathed his last. By the time that Emily arrived at the spot where Sandy died, his body had already been taken away, although nobody would tell her where to. The field and the house seemed desolate and unfamiliar without Sandy and his owner. The whole premises eventually became the site of a new housing estate, or so Emily heard. She never ventured there again.
Emily made no protest against her family's emigration to the Republic of Ireland in the summer of two thousand and two. It was almost a relief for her, an opportunity to allow herself to remove the shroud of memories which seemed to weigh on her every step. Bidding some of her classmates farewell was a difficult experience, but Emily was happy to say goodbye to her former home. Her brother was another matter- the eleven-year-old threw a screaming fit when the time came from him to finally leave the house. Nonetheless, Emily's family eventually boarded the plane and set of to live in a commuter town on the fringes of Dublin. Education-wise, the move didn't have a massive impact on Emily. The greatest change was that she had to learn Irish. However, Emily was an intelligent child and, with a little extra help at the beginning, she was soon the equal of her classmates. She gained a few friends, although there were children, mainly boys, who mocked her voice, which had picked up on more British tones during her time in England. Emily tried her best to neutralise her obvious accent and fit in, succeeding far more at the former than the latter. It was at around this age that Emily began to find great comfort in books. They provided a safe haven from her, a shelter from the cruel world.
Emily moved from a mixed school to an all-girls school at the age of twelve. Being an atheist, she wasn't overly fond of the heavy Catholic influence on the school, but the general atmosphere was a good one. She became more open about herself and her interests, and gained a diverse group of friends. Emily enjoyed being in their company and they had a lot to talk about and compare; music, literature, computer games and a vast variety of life experiences. However, a difference began to emerge between Emily and her friends as their second and third years of secondary school ran their course. Many of her friends began speaking more about boys. They weren't the stereotypical boyfriend-obessed teenage girls, but they would occasionally chat about 'hot' male celebrities and the suchlike. Emily never felt as though she had much to add to the conversation. She didn't have anything against boys, but she just couldn't see them in that light. Despite this, Emily was happy. She had her own friends and, while she wasn't exactly a model student, she had never been given a detention or any other form of serious punishment. However, this happiness was not set to last. After the recession hit Ireland, Emily's parents left the country for the so-called land of opportunity, the United States of America.
Emily didn't mind the country itself very much. Leaving her friends had been hard, but her parents had assured her that she was going to make new ones. She knew that she was going to go to a different school, based on an entirely different school system. History would alter drastically, and she wouldn't be learning Irish, and she'd be expected to spell some words in another way, but her parents had told her that the change wasn't going to be as bad as it seemed. To soften the blow, they had managed to arrange riding lessons with a local who would allow Emily to exercise his horses for free, considering the fact that she had some experience with Western riding. Emily knew that her parents were trying their hardest not to hurt her, so she didn't let on that they were not remotely successful in this aim. They had enough to deal with when it came to her brother, who was staying in Ireland and being very rude about it. Finally, the moment arrived; Emily opened the door to her new classroom with as much hope as she could muster. That was where the trouble began.
The moment the top dogs of the group of students deigned to notice Emily, they'd already decided her social status. This was only cemented further into their minds by the fact that she used the school library often and didn't hide the fact that she was interested in more serious issues than the latest hit songs and who was dating who. She became a geek, a nerd, in their eyes. However, Emily came from a school without a pronounced status quo. She might have been smart but she was certainly not prepared to be ignored or, even worse, become an object of belittlement for those who had snagged more privileged positions in the hierarchy of the school. Emily voiced her opinions, snapped at the more popular students for making fun of certain 'different' individuals. This certainly didn't earn her any favour among the students with the gangs of so-called friends. Emily's property was scribbled on and she was insulted for nearly all of the time that teachers did not supervise the classes. She tried to ignore the cruel words, but eventually she couldn't take any more of it. Emily ended up in a fight with one of the most popular boys in the school; a rich idiot by the name of Jackson who had made the mistake of calling Emily a certain swear word. At the time, Emily had been pleased to see that Jackson came off worse for wear in the fight. The principal also noticed this and, needless to say, he was not amused. "Emily." he began, in a pompous tone, before discussing the issue with her; making it very clear that she was the one in the wrong, despite Emily's evidence to the contrary. Bullying had been going on in the school for a long time, due to the fact that the majority of teachers turned a blind eye to the increasingly subtle forms of bullying. In such an environment, Emily could not escape her situation and so the bullying continued.
While Emily's interaction with her classmates was far from excellent, there were some creatures who she had been quick to befriend. These were the horses that she had been allowed to exercise. She was not alone in this pursuit, but she was the most dedicated. While the other youth who trained them had friends to meet and social events to attend every so often, Emily's only distraction from riding the horses there was her schoolwork. She came to know every one of the horses, discovering their likes and dislikes with each new ride. Emily learned a lot about horses and, one evening, the owner of the horses watched her ride. She was mounted on a notoriously tricky horse and although she made a few mistakes, it was obvious that she could work with the temperamental mare. The horses' owner was much impressed, and asked Emily whether she was considering entering in any Western riding competitions.
Emily entered in a variety of such competitions, making a reputation for herself as time passed. She maintained her schoolwork and, to the annoyance of some, managed to score some excellent grades. The popular students had lost interest in bullying her so severely, although the would occasionally throw an insult in her direction. This didn't happen very often, and Emily ignored their pettty words. During her final year, her participation in competitions waned. Happily, she got the marks that she wanted at the end of the year and travelled to study in a college far from the town which she had previously inhabited.
College was better than Emily had expected, considering the fact that her experience with high school had been so dismal. She didn't go to parties and the suchlike, but it was alright, as she wasn't the only one. She finally discovered or, more accurately, admitted something about herself. Emily was sexually attracted to those of the same gender. In a way, she had known for a long time, but never tried to voice this, fearing how others would react. Most of Emily's friends at college accepted this and those who didn't ceased to seek her company. That was alright for Emily; she didn't want to be in the presence of people who disliked her for part of who she was. She worked hard at her studies and the year seemed to fly by. Time passed and summer ended, bringing with it a new influx of students recently graduated from high school. At first, Emily was slightly disoriented by the fact that she wasn't among youngest anymore, but she soon became accustomed to it. Life was going fairly well, in Emily's eyes, when she stumbled across a horse who was to change her life; for better or for worse.
The horse was a buckskin, doing nothing stranger than grazing in a field, its coat slightly different from the typical golden sheen associated with that horse colour. For a strange moment, Emily was hit with a sensation of déjà vu. In a way, the horse seemed so much like Sandy. No tears trickled from Emily's eyes as she thought this- time had used up all her tears -but a pang of sadness and regret flashed in her heart. Suddenly, she noticed that the horse was approaching her. The closer the horse came, the more that Emily could see how little it resembled Sandy. With a long mane and tail, a height of 14.3 hands and a coat lightened by the first signs of greying, the mare was not very similar to the pony of Emily's youth. Nonetheless, Emily stayed, transfixed by the mare. The mare allowed, or rather demanded, Emily to stroke her for a while, until a young man in a blue-grey riding jacket came racing out from behind a corner in the road. He dashed towards Emily and the horse before slowing down in order to speak. "Excuse me," he said in a cold tone, tinged with an accent whose origins Emily couldn't quite fathom, "What are you doing with my mare?". Emily looked at the ground. Life wasn't some sort of movie scene, and she could see how her actions looked from the man's eyes; bad. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, it was rash. She just..." Emily's voice trailed off before resuming in a much quieter tone. "She reminded me of someone that I once knew.". To her surprise, this reply didn't anger the man. "I know how it feels. Sorry." he answered. The two stood by the fence of the field for a moment before Emily noticed that the man was holding some flyers. Ever-curious, Emily asked what they were. "Flyers." he replied, holding one up. "They're bad, aren't they?". Emily tried to lie but she failed miserably. The truth was, the flyers looked like they had been made by a toddler. "What are they for, anyway?" Emily questioned. "I'm looking for a rider- someone who wants to take on a part-time job of dealing with Western horses." the man said. Emily took another look at the messy flyer and replied. "Do you know what? I think I might be interested.".