"All the Pretty Little Horses"

Since I can remember, I've had a memory of my mother singing to me underneath our giant cherry tree. I have no idea how old I was, but I can remember that her arms were huge and totally engulfed me. 1? Younger? Is that possible? I thought that maybe it was just a dream until I heard the song she was singing: "All the Pretty Little Horses".

I remember asking my dad when I was about 10 ten years old what dapples were. He, needless to say, had no idea what I was talking about and you probably don't either. In my teens I heard it on the television during some folk music show. I couldn't believe it and wanted to hear it again, but had no idea what it was called or how to get a hold of it. Then a few years ago YouTube arrived and so did the song! Let's not tell anyone that I cried when I found it. I couldn't believe it! Here was the song that I had in my head for YEARS.

Since that day I knew I would sing it to my child, though I wasn't sure if I would ever be mentally ready for it. Irrational thoughts flew through my head like "If I do what she did, will I die?" I told you they were irrational. This is one of the only positive memories I have of her and I now think I have to sing it to my child to keep that memory alive. I only remember a small chunk of the song, but I will get around to memorizing the rest. My baby too will have all the pretty little horses.

If you would like to hear it, here's a link to a video (that is not mine) that I found on YouTube of "All the Pretty Little Horses". Of the versions I've found, this one is the closest to the way I remember it sung.