Deputy
Soft enough to be a little girl's greatest love. Fierce enough to compete with the best of them. Some souls carry both beautifully.
Some horses choose their person. Deputy chose a little girl — and in doing so, gave her something she will carry in her heart for the rest of her life.
This portrait holds him exactly as he was. That warm chestnut face emerging from the gentle darkness, the soft forelock falling just so, that deep and quietly luminous eye that saw everything and judged nothing. The eye of a horse who was patient and kind and exactly what a child needed him to be. Gentle enough to be trusted completely. Steady enough to make her feel safe. Special enough to be absolutely, unquestionably her favourite.
There is something extraordinary about the bond between a child and a horse. It is one of the purest loves there is — uncomplicated, wholehearted and completely without reservation. For a little girl, Deputy was not just a horse. He was the one whose warm breath and solid presence made the whole world feel right. He was the one she wanted to take care of and knew exactly where he liked to be scratched.
That kind of love does not end. It grows into something a person carries quietly and permanently — a warmth in the chest at the mention of a name, a smile that arrives before the tears do.
Deputy is gone from the field. But he lives on in every memory, every photograph, and in the heart of a little girl who loved him more than words can say.