The Horse with the High-Heeled Shoes

Author: Louis Slobodkin

Copyright Date: 1954
Publisher: Vanguard

E
lizabeth was a Lady Horse. And because she was a Lady
Horse, she had long sweeping eyelashes, a lovely curly mane
(with bangs), a long pretty neck, and naturally a
very gentle shape. And of course her well-brushed
tail was wavy.
Elizabeth had long slender legs, and because she
was a Lady Horse, she did not wear just ordinary
iron horseshoes.... Oh, no!... Elizabeth wore high-
heeled horseshoes! And they were not attached to
her hoofs with nails like ordinary horseshoes. They
were tied on with large, red leather bows!
When Elizabeth went out she wore a hat (one
with flowers), and when she stayed home she
sometimes wore curlers because her mane was not
naturally curly.
 Elizabeth lived along with a number of other horses in something that might
be called a Horse Apartment House.
It was really a four-story stable with
two elevators. All the horses had
private steam-heated stalls. The horses
who lived in this apartment house
were all very elegant saddle horses
and carriage horses. No truck horses
or old vegetable-wagon horses lived
here. The rent was rather expensive.
When Elizabeth first came to live
in the Horse Apartment House one
spring day, the horses who already
lived there were all very friendly to

one
another. They neighed and nickered as they passed one another in the park or
along the street. And that’s what they did in the stable as they went up and down
the elevators together or put their heads over the walls of their private steam-
heated stalls.
But none of the horses ever neighed or nickered at Elizabeth. Because
Elizabeth never neighed or nickered back. They all thought she was haughty and
proud. But the truth of the matter is that Elizabeth was really a very shy horse,
and she thought it was not ladylike to neigh or nicker at other horses.
Elizabeth belonged to Miss Crumpet, an old-fashioned lady. Miss Crumpet
was so old-fashioned she always rode side-saddle. She believed both lady horses
and lady riders should dress and behave as ladylike as possible. And she was the
one who brought a special hairdresser to curl Elizabeth’s mane and to wave her
tail. Miss Crumpet saw to it, too, that the blacksmith always made high-heeled
horseshoes for Elizabeth.
A few days after Elizabeth came to the Horse Apartment House, another
horse came to live there, too. He was a young horse with a sleek dark coat, and
he was so handsome that when that when Elizabeth first saw him as they passed
each other in the doorway she almost
swallowed her bit. Her hat slipped
sidewards, and she stumbled on her high-
heeled shoes. The new horse smiled gently
and watched her pass without a word.