The Character of the Wild Animal with the Heart of Gold

When I was growing up, it was a given that girls love horses. I'm not sure where the idea came from. I liked horses and I took horse-riding lessons. But I never got into the whole unicorn/horse subculture, not even My Little Pony (slightly too young for me). 

I did, however, adore the book The Black Stallion by Walter Farley and Frog: The Horse That Knew No Master by S.P. Meeks. I didn't read anything else by those authors or in that genre. But I LOVED those books. 

I suspected then and I know now that I was as much in love with the humans in the books as with the horses. That is, I have never much cared for stories about animals alone (there are a few exceptions). What I still remember about The Black Stallion is the scene where Alec's parents see him leave the ship with a horse that is 15+ times heavier than he is. And with Frog, I was half in love with Roy Scott, the officer that saves Frog in the beginning, by the end of the first read-through. 

In both cases, the main human character meets the animal half-way. It isn't that different from Peter and The Wolf in the  Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman's film. They understand each other better than all others. On the island, Black comes to Alec's rescue when he destroys the rattlesnake. In Frog, Frog capers for help when Scott is knocked out and Frog can't rouse him. 

Wild animals will turn on their so-called owners, as will domesticated dogs and cats with the owner's rotting corpse. But that's part of the attraction with The Black Stallion and Frog. They are never entirely tamed, and their handlers know that. They remain on the edge of wildness. 

When I was younger, I always wanted a panther--and at that time, one could get one's picture taken with baby panthers. I never did. I didn't want a carefully controlled and monitored panther. I wanted a real one, just like I wanted a real lightsaber that could, you know, take my legs off. 

The desire for danger lurks, even as we get older and wiser.