Brown Beauty

Dear Diary,

There is a horse boarding farm right down the road from me and I love to stop and look at the horses.  I've loved horses since I was a little girl.  I began riding at 8 years old, now I would be hard pressed to mount one but I can still look at them and appreciate their beautiful form.

I read the book Black Beauty when I was about 10 years old and the book changed me forever.  Written in 1877, it told the story through the voice of the horse and it broke my heart to learn that humans could be so cruel to these beautiful creatures.  I believe the book got me to see animals as individuals and it is how I've thought of them ever since.

The book also demonstrated that one person can have a huge impact on the world.  The author, Anna Sewell, was crippled in an accident at 14.  She only wrote one book and that was late in her life.  She died not long after it was published.  It became a world-wide best seller and led to reforms and animal rights laws that protected horses from cruel treatment.  One person can, truly, change the world.