Fairy Stirrup

This is Frankey and Johanna is horse-sitting him for a few days. Wee Gizmo stays with Frankey, so it's been nice to see him again too.

When we went over to feed them, we noticed that Frankey had a tangle in his mane (if you look closely, you'll see it about half way down) ...

... traditionally this sort of natural tangle is known as a Fairy's Stirrup (or Elf's or Witches' Stirrup) ... and is supposed to signify that the horse has been borrowed by a Fairy the previous night. If you find one in a horse's mane, it's bad luck to untangle it .. in fact, some say if you do and you ride that day, the horse will throw you off ;-)

In Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, these get a mention in Mercutio's speech about Mab, Queen of the Fairies :

..... This is that very Mab
That plaits the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes

So there you go.

May seem a bit far fetched to many I know, but once you get out beyond the streetlights the countryside is still a place where many strange things happen, so you never know :-)

P.S. Weatherwise, the wind has moved to the South and there's a big thaw setting in now.