Galego | English

Young Adults

O cabalo ceibe

By Xosé Lois Ripalda, Delio Rodríguez Ces

About this book

Through the pages of this book we see how Bocallán the horse, with the help of Albea the mare and their friends, try to get back the dignity their species used to have in the past. Therefore, they start a fight in order to break free from the burning iron that marks the ownership of others over them because the only thing that can touch them now are the songs made by the wind.

Book fragment

The day was starting and the dew looked crunchy, the first rays of light could be felt in the valley, and there was a great noise, the same as every year, due to the large numbers of people who used to come from far away to get the best place in order to see the show, interesting for them, for the whole day. From the early morning groups of farmers gathered in the mountain in order to push the flock to the sides of the mountain and bring the horses into the pens.

In order to enclose them better, apart from whipping them, a pack of dogs followed them close to their legs. Many colts fell on the ground because of the pushing from so many others and from the dust getting in their eyes.

They reached the valley, where other farmers were waiting, all of them with their crooks, forcing them to follow the paths towards the pens.

The show started when they started cutting the manes, and for that they jumped on top of them, and as they were all trapped and there was not much space, the task was not difficult.

Then they took the colts away from their mothers, while they fought vainly, trying to seek refuge in their mothers.