We All Know One
We have all heard of horse girls before. Her persona – horses. Her spirit animal – horses. Room? Horse themed. The jiblets on her crocs – you guessed it.
She lies and says the year she was born also happened to be the year of the horse. It’s destiny! Besides, who is going to fact check her on that anyways? I am, Sandra. 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014. Any horse girls born outside of those years is a fraud, and your bucking Secretariat knows it.
However, for a time, there was a rise in something arguably much less cool. They swapped their boots straps for camera straps. Like a horse jumped fences, so must they. The only horses they expected to find were the bones of one that long ago had met its maker. ‘Stable’ became a word that no longer pertained to their relationships, but to something else.
They were… the horse boys.
A New Wave of Men
We were proud to call ourselves horse boys, too. Our affinity for this stable rivaled that of a horse girls love for braces and an Abercrombie flannel. We saddled up in Newport, Rhode Island, strutting our boot cut jeans across Brenton State Park to a stable. But not just any stable, no. This was ‘The Bells’.
Formerly known as ‘The Reef’, this once renowned ‘summer house’ was the home of Theodore M. Davis, a prominent attorney at the time. It then fell into the hands of the Budong family until it was seized during WWII for the purpose of building a defense battery on the land. After Uncle Sam decided to return the estate, it began to fall into disrepair. It wasn’t until a fire ripped through the land that the final nail was put in The Bell coffin in 1960. It was torn down a few years after.
Fortunately for us horse boys, the carriage and stable house remained. If the M.P.’s at the entrance of Ocean Drive deem your bank statements wealthy enough, The Bells is a very cool spot to check out. An AmEx might give off enough of an opulent lifestyle for entry, too. It is just a quick drive past Jay Leno and Taylor Swift’s fuck you I’m paid houses. Once at Brenton Point State Park, head straight back into the stable.
The Newport Derby
After hopping a small fence, the entrance to the stable is not hard to find by any means. Just walk straight. The place is engulfed in all sorts of neat graffiti. Once inside on your immediate left are stairs that lead up to a now almost blocked off second floor. At some point, someone not motivated enough to tear the entire stable down was still concerned with public safety. They have been cemented over, rendering it practically unscalable for anyone.
The stable isn’t very large, but a short walk and right-hand turn will reveal the stables that stallions frequented. It has been said by visitors of the stables that being in this area gives them a cold, eerie feeling. People have also reported hearing neighing and even galloping when in the stable room. Davis was an avid artifact collector from his travels all over the world. Some even believe that artifacts he collected have cursed the land.
Tread Lightly
Just as of last week, October 25th, the demolition of ‘The Bells’ has been announced. There is no official date as to when the demo will begin, but they plan to start in the coming weeks. The roof had collapsed after a kid managed to find his way through the stairs and up on the second floor in May. Two children, 15 and 16, were taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital for more sustained injuries, while the third kid was released at the scene with minor injuries. The fourth kid, 15, was listed in critical condition and was later airlifted to another hospital.
It is a very sad story to hear happening in a place that brought us so much joy. From what I could find, they all seemed to recover. It comes to show that you can never be too careful when exploring these places. At any point, the floor or roof or wall can collapse, and it does not worry about who might be collateral.