Its only April, but I was hit with inspiration. Really, my kids gave me inspiration every day, and one day they started asking about ghosts.Ive tried to make ghosts funny, as kids get scared of lots of things. They are young, they dont know how the world works, and their imaginations are going wild. Their big beautiful hearts are still open to possibilities, they havent become a shriveled black mass (like mine.)Ive had my own ghostly horse experience, which I hardly remember at this point, so thank goodness I wrote about it and I can relieve the memory. But I do remember being unimpressed. I truly believe that people believe because they want to believe. They create devices that will give them the readings they want, as theres no scientific evidence of anything.BUT that doesnt mean ghost stories arent fun. I can still appreciate them for being spooky little stories, and if someone told me one right before I was walking along a dark road at night to pick up a pony, I would totally believe something could happen. My level of belief directly coincides with my environment at any given moment.Now that you know my backstory, lets get to the meat of this.Everyone knows about human ghosts. I would say they are by far the most prominent of the ghost species. Ive heard of some dog ghosts, but not many. But what about horse ghosts? Is that a thing?I had to find out. And I did.I present to you, a few horse ghost stories, along with my commentary.Enjoy!The Monomoy Island Ghost HorseAlong the shores of Massachusetts lies a little area called Cape Cod, famous for their architecture style and being expensive. But they are also known for something more sinister: Having lots of shipwrecks. Theres more than 3,000 shipwrecks over the last 300 years of recorded history.The 9 mile long stretch of Monomoy Island is a lonely place. Today its a 7,921 acre wilderness refuge, quiet except the sounds of the bird in the marshes. 200 years ago, it was also a lonely place, which is perhaps why this it was the perfect place for land pirates to set up camp. Yes, pirates, but apparently unable to secure a boat to do their pillaging, so much like a trap door spider, they lured their victims to them.They either placed some horses to graze in Marshlands, but tied lights to their necks. The bobbing motion of the lights made ships think there were moored in the area, so they would head in, thinking they were about to get some rest. Instead, they were shocked to instead hit land and become stuck and/or broken.Now it was the land pirates time to shine. They slaughtered the crew, and took the loot.But apparently the horses didnt like being an accomplice to this crime. One of them, a black stallion, decided to devote his afterlife to swimming in the waters around the island, warning boats to stay away.The spooky shoreline of Monomoy Island (Its spooky because I said it is.)That horse was really devoted to warning people, if hes out there swimming in the ocean to tell them. Horses, as we all know, are land creatures, so swimming isnt their preferred way to travel. Running along the shore, screaming (neighing), seems like a better way to warn people, but I have very little experience being a ghost horse, so its possible there are limitations Im not aware of. I dont know how they were able to distinguish a black horse, let alone a black stallion (how are they checking?)out in the water, in the middle of the night. When a horse swims, you basically only see its head. Its not like you can see the whole body.I would also like to point out that the only evidence I found of this ghost is one website and a tiktok, likely made based on the website. So take that as you will.But now you know the story of the Black Stallion of Monomoy Island. Woooooooooooooooo! Spooky!The Ghostly Stallion of RamsdenAcross the pond in the UK are more sightings of ghost horses, luckily this time on land, where you can actually tell it is a horse and not a seal.In West Oxfordshire, a white ghost stallion has been seen at Ramsden Road. He was last seen in the 1990s, when he was seen coming out of the Garden Center and galloping away. Another time, he was seen galloping into the Garden Center.What we can learn from this is ghost horses really love garden centers.No one really knows who the ghost horse is. The area has been occupied by humans since the Roman times, so thats quite a bit of history to shift through. Its also possible this ghost was created by horse drama that had nothing to do with humans (Im not sure why humans think they have to be at the center of everything!).But since it seems the ghost horse has retired from his hauntings, we may never know.Esgehill Battlefield GhostWhite Horse Road, in Edgehill got its name from the ghostly white horse that runs along it. Its a pretty frequent visitor, certainly enough that it got the road named after it.Its believed the ghost is from the nearby Battle of Edgehill, a solders horse that was separated from him. Edgehill is the most haunted battlefield in England, as distinguished by official British Public Record.The battle was a bloody one, with many deaths and 200 maimed soldiers, left behind who received no relief from doctors or surgeons. The battlefield was abandoned, with the dead still laying where they fell.After the battle, the villagers noticed ghostly apparitions and noises coming from the battlefield. It was so widely reported that Charles I sent his officers to investigate.Shockingly, they actually saw something: a great vision filled the sky of strange and portentous apparitions of two jarring and contrary armies the same incorporeal soldiers that made those clamours, the clattering of arms, noise of cannons, ensigns displayed, drums beating, muskets going off, cannons discharged, horses neighing, cries of soldiers, and the two armies pell-mell to it they went. So amazing and terrifying the poor men, that they could not believe they were mortal, or give credit to their eyes and ears; run away they durst not, for fear of being made a prey to these infernal soldiers, and so they, with much fear and affright, stayed to behold the success of the business.The ghosts were so solid, the officers were even able to identify some of them, including Sir Edmund Verney, the Kings standard bearer.The ghosts fought for three hours before they vanished into the sky.The officers wrote up their official report, which was published on January 23, 1643, titled A Great Wonder in Heaven, showing the late apparitions and prestigious Noises of the War and Battles, seen at Edgehill, near KinetonAfter this, the villagers took it upon themselves to finally bury the bodies of the fallen soldiers. The ghosts stopped appearing, but its said that noises from the battle can still be heard.And, apparently, at least one horse from the battle still gallops along White Horse Road.Horse ghost stories seem to be pretty rare, which is unfortunate, because Id love to hear more.Do you have a horse ghost story? Let me know!The post Horse Ghost Stories appeared first on An Equestrian Life.