Erika walked slowly alongside Pegasus and held out a hand to him which

he snorted at, sniffing for any treats. She patted him, noticing the firmness of

his large, crested neck. His face was perfect in every way, his eyes big and

friendly, yet seeming somehow alert, aware of every movement around them. His

ears swivelled majestically, homing in on background sounds which Erika either

could not hear or was not consciously aware of. A jet of vapour shot from his

flared nostrils into the crisp Autumn air, swirling and dancing in the light

breeze and drifting off into oblivion. He turned his head to catch a better look

at something that had grasped his interest, Erika looked intently at his face.

It was just how the ideal horse should have looked, it had a definitive, proud

outline. His cheekbone rode high on his face and petered down to his whisker

strewn chin. His soft, pink lips were slightly parted and looked softer than

anything else in the world. A small tuft of mane fell loosely between his ears

and lay neatly between his eyes, slightly covering his left eye as it splayed

out in a small fringe. Pegasus's mane was a beautiful white, looking almost as

though it were bleached. It was fairly long and fell down his neck and shoulder

in a waterfall of straight, neatly brushed hair.

Erika ran her hand slowly along his neck, feeling his soft, short golden

hair flow between her fingers. It was like running her hand along velvet, but it

was warm and she could feel his strong muscles flexing under his supple skin.

When she reached his shoulder she patted him lightly and bent down, she let her

hand loosely brush down his leg and grasped his foot. He obediently lifted his

leg to let Erika have a look. His silky feathers were hanging, lifting gently in

the breeze, as clean and wispy as could be. Pegasus's legs were visibly firm

and had perfect form, not a single defect. She let his leg go and he returned it

to the ground, standing patiently.

Erika checked the immaculate tack which someone had already fitted on

Pegasus. She felt the saddle, it was made with good quality leather and was

padded nicely. The stirrup gleamed in the sunlight, polished to such an extent

that it sparkled brightly in the soft sunlight. A lovely full sheepskin numnah

peeped out from under the saddle and felt like cotton wool to the touch. The

reins fell loosely against Pegasus's shoulders which led up to a bitless bridle.

She raised a hand to Pegasus's face and scratched the ridge of his nose and he

closed his eyes in contention. Erika felt a wave of tiredness fall across her

and her eyelids lazily fell shut.

When Erika opened her eyes she was sat in the saddle on Pegasus back and

had the reins in her hands. She looked around wearily for anybody's presence but

saw nothing but fresh, green fields and distant forests of pine trees. Erika

felt her legs squeeze Pegasus slightly and he began to walk forward obediently.

She did not appear to be in control of her body but she cared little, enjoying

the company and slow rhythmic bounce of Pegasus's strides. Her legs pushed him

on and he broke into a trot, Erika bounced clumsily on Pegasus's back until she

realised that she was once again in control of her legs and she rose to the trot

with effortless grace. Erika was beginning to get the idea. In the far end of

the field she saw a series of jumps which she aimed Pegasus at. As she

approached the small set of jumps she brought Pegasus to a halt and looked over

the jumps, plotting a course through them. Erika pushed Pegasus into a

trot and headed for the first jump, encouraging him on. He jumped at just the

right time and Erika positioned herself ready for the jump. She felt Pegasus's

strong hind-legs push them both forward and up, they rose into the air and

Pegasus assumed the perfect posture for a jump. They cleared the jump with at

least a foot to spare and landed squarely on the other side. She turned Pegasus

toward a taller jump and pushed on, it were as if Pegasus were reading her mind,

or perhaps, she were reading his. They reached the second jump with perfect

strides and synchronously jumped into the air, higher than the first jump and

landed smoothly, carrying onto the next jump - a parallel. Erika had never been

to certain about parallel jumps, always worrying about coming down short onto

the second bar - which had quite often led to the horse refusing and Erika

completing part of the fence on her own. She felt her now mile high confidence

founder slightly and her nerves began to kick in. Suddenly, she felt a burst of

confidence sweep over her which she somehow knew was coming from Pegasus, he

wasn't going to let her fall. They flew through the air with little effort and

cleared the fence easily, a big grin burst onto Erika's face and she let out a

small laugh. They completed the jumps with absolutely no faults or hic-ups, and

she felt a rising excitement building up inside her stomach.

She pulled Pegasus to a halt and looked down, he hadn't even broke into

a sweat. She leaned forward and put arms around his neck, his silken hair

brushed against her cheek as she pushed her face against him. She hugged him for

all she was worth and thought only happy thoughts. Erika felt a tear of

happiness well up and fall onto Pegasus's coat, it hung to a hair then made its

way down him to the ground. Pegasus turned his head and looked at Erika. A

feeling of overwhelming love swept across Erika. Pegasus returned to looking at

the surroundings and once again Erika's eyes fell heavy and gradually closed.

Erika's eyes flicked open and the morning sun made her wince. She batted

her eyes a few times and flung the bed covers back. Then came the realisation

that it had all been a dream. The cloud of joy broke and the sadness that it had

ended crept in. Erika looked up at the swirling patterns on the ceiling and

remembered the horse of her dreams - a palomino pony that could only exist in

dreams. The sound of birds singing broke the remembrance and Erika sat up.

Somewhere outside a tractor was turning soil. Erika listened intently for any

other sounds and found only the birds signing their melodies. The tractor

spluttered to a halt and the birds singing faded to a low murmur. Suddenly the

silence was broken by a loud sound, it didn't immediately sink in what it had

been. Then Erika realised what the noise had been - a neigh of a horse whose

identity Erika had no doubts, it was Pegasus.

A huge smile grew on Erika's face.