Halcyon Days 瀾漫歲月

.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I was inspired by the works of Barabara D. Livingston (http://www.barbaralivingston.com/) to start my own version of "Old Friends". In the halcyon days of my youth I spent a great deal of time at the Beas River Country Club, as well as several other now defunct public riding stables, practising and trying to improve my equestrian skills on ex-racehorses. Those were happy and carefree days; but it was also a rather solitary affair, as none of my family members were into horses, and neither were any of my schoolmates.
.
But none of that deterred me, and those places almost became a home away from home, so to speak, and I developed an affinity with just about every horse I rode or came across. I loved them all, and it always saddened me when one of them was mishandled by a rider, or had to be put down. I wished all of them could be put out to pasture where they could graze until the end, and that I had the clout and financial means to bring this about.

.
I had, for several years, a habit of taking a photograph of the horses I had ridden, and had accumulated a large number of them. After I saw the stunning works of Barbara Livingston, I pulled them out from the archives and started this blog. Memories crept in as I went through the photos, as my heart again felt that familiar pang.
.
Although the quality of the photos I took is a far-cry from that of the stunning images produced by Ms. Livingston, the underlying emotions are probably the same. I don't have a word that accurately describes this sentiment, save for the fact that it is a mixture of admiration, affection, nostalgia, and perhaps even sadness. Tomorrow I shall start this journey into the past with my all-time favourite champion: the magnificent Money Talks.
.
受到 Barbara Livingston (http://www.barbaralivingston.com/) 的薰陶, 使我萌生了建立 "昨日一族" 的念頭。因喜愛馬匹和騎術, 我年少時在馬會雙魚河會所及幾間現巳結業的公眾騎術俱樂部渡過了不少歡樂無憂的時光。即使沒有家庭成員及同學的參與, 卻半點也無礙我的樂趣, 更因此而結識了不少在馬房出入的陌生人; 這些人包括當時仍在學騎馬的告東尼及羅國洲及他們一夥人中的老大哥告達理、 失意的簡炳墀、老一輩賽馬名宿劉家嶙、洛德、及陳博等, 另外當然少不了那些輾轉來港仍操上海口音的資深馬伕。
.
從那時起, 我共曾騎過約 1,500 匹本港退役馬。我對每一匹都感到一份憐愛; 每當牠們之中有被人失當地策騎或須被人道毁滅時, 我都会感到憤怒和難過。心底裡總覺得牠們應獲放草終老, 更希望自己有足夠的影响力及財力將之變為事實。
.
曾經有幾年時間, 我會將騎過的馬拍照留存。看了Barabara Livingston 的作品後, 我把這批舊照從庫存中取了出來。在質素方面, 它們自不能與 Barbara Livingston 的作品相提並論, 但說到回憶的衝擊, 和勾起心俳間那層像失去老朋友般的感覺, 两者卻可謂異曲同工; 所不同的是 "昨曰一族" 是我親身的經歷, 亦因而更多一重懷念和傷感。
.
這個回到過去的旅程將於下期開始, 由實至名歸的馬王 "金源" 作啟航。