FHL takes pleasure in publishing the winning entry in the United States Pony Club annual Hildegard Neill Ritchie Joys of Foxhunting Writing Contest for 2010. As one of the contest judges, I was impressed by the powerful imagery produced by this young author’s creative description of wind, trees, and earth from the horse’s perspective.
In the coming weeks FHL will publish more worthy top-placing efforts by foxhunting Pony Clubbers in the contest.
Foxhunt
The wind sifts
Its glossy fingers
Through my thick, wiry mane
And it Ruffles
My furry coat.
The brightly painted leaves
Peer curiously down at me
From their perches
On the arms
Of the ancient trees.
The ground pushes
My prancing hooves
Up, and up, and up
As the trail
Opens before me
Like a fist unclasping.
And I quicken
My step
As her calves squeeze reassuringly
Around my barrel.
A wooden coop stands
Before us
And now
Finally
We soar.
Ema Klugman is a seventh grade student at the United Nations International School in New York City. She is twelve years old and plays lots of sports. She has always had a passion for words. Ema was born in Italy; her parents are from Australia; and she has lived in Kenya, Washington, DC, and now Manhattan. She has a twelve-year-old Morgan pony named Tammy in upstate New York.
August 20, 2010