The Horses That Inspired

My mother, Owanta, and her Trakehner horse, Dandy 

One night, some 4-5 years ago I woke up at 4am. (4 am is often a portal for me for other worldly things, meditations and visions). For some time before, I had been hearing an insistent voice in both my head and my heart telling me to write a book. I had no idea what I was supposed to write about. I kept asking, "What do you want me to write? Tell me and I try to do it." 

But the voice always went quiet. 

Anyway, that night the same voice told me to get out of bed, go to my computer and research  East Prussia. I followed the guidance and somehow Fetysz Os ended up on my screen. I fell in love with him right away - who wouldn't?  But then, sadly I learned that he had been shot, in cold blood, by the Russians when they invaded East Prussia and arrived in the famous "City of Horses" in Trakehnen.  

I cried to know that his death had taken place simply because he belonged to Germans. As I sat there I realized something else. My grandparents, Walter and Edith von Sanden lived just a few miles away from Trakehnen on their own estate in a place called Guja. My mother Owanta had her own Trakehner horses. A bold and self-possessed woman, she rode everywhere on her favorite horse, Dandy. 

Fetysz Ox - The fantastic Trakehner Stallion 

who caught my eye on the internet.

Well....right then and there, the story line for The Last Daughter of Prussia began to unfold. I thought - okay - I'll write a story about an East Prussian woman who flees her land and saves her beloved Trakehner horses. I had no idea what I was getting into. I once read quote that said "In a weak moment, I decided to write a book." 

Well that was me. 

-Marina Gottlieb Sarles

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