Many years ago, a young horse from Russia met a young girl in England. The horse was called Viktor Prodneyovitch Regimirov and the girl was Natalie.

Natalie asked Viktor if he would like to live with her in England where they could have loads of fun together. “Da” said Viktor, “I’d like that.”

So, Viktor came to live with Natalie and in time Viktor Prodneyovitch Regimirov became Prodney for short.

Many many years later, Prodney decided it was time to retire from all that fun. Now he was able to free roam the English countryside where he could see the vast hillsides and beautiful moonlit sky. But deep down, despite the free time and the countryside, Prodney was feeling lonely as he had no one to share his private time with.

Natalie was sensitive to Prodney’s sadness and wanted to find a friend for him. And then fate introduced her to Maybelle Virginie, a Belgian draft horse recently moved to England. Nat brought Maybelle to her home and introduced her to Prodney.

“Privet” said Prodney, “My name is Viktor Prodneyovitch Regimirov but friends call me Prodney.”

 “Bonjour” replied Maybelle, “I am Maybelle Virginie, everyone calls me Abella.”

Noticing the spark between them, Natalie arranged for the two to go on a Valentine trip to Italy to get to know each other. And on one night in Florence, Prodney and Abella spent an evening sharing their life stories.

“I come from a family of crop farmers who encouraged me to go and live anywhere as long as I have somebody to share my life with”, said Abella.

Prodney was mesmerised by her story. “Da, I understand how it is to live a life. My father came from an ancient blood line of Russian aristocrats who had no choice but to leave their home. After the terror in Russia ended years later, we were safe to go back home, but my otets …”

“Pardon Prodney, what is otets?” Abella interjected.

“Oh sorry, otets means father in Russian, he encouraged me to live a life without fear of persecution from anybody who may hate me. I managed to find a happy life when I met Natalie and came to live with her in England.”

“That’s funny” said Abella, “Natalie brought me here for the same reason, maybe she realised that we were destined to be friends?”

After a moment of silence, Prodney spoke up again. “You know, where I come from, we used to enjoy watching the moonlight shine over the high mountains in Russia, and if you closed your eyes and listened, you could hear singing in the night sky.”

“Oui” replied Abella, “I saw the same thing in the fields in Belgium, a huge full moon rising over the land shining like a giant oeuf en cocotte.”

“A what?” asked Prodney curiously.

“Ah sorry, it means baked eggs” replied Abella. “I also used my eyes to imagine hearing a lovely song in the air.”

Prodney and Abella realised that fate had brought them together, and trotted together to the hills outside Florence. They were just in time to watch a huge full moon rise over the mountain ranges overlooking the quiet city which glistened in the moonlight like a mirror. They sat down together, closed their eyes and listened and listened. And then, they heard a beautiful song resonate in their ears like a choir of angels singing to their new-found love.

Finally opening their eyes, they gazed at one another, their silence broke when they both admitted their unspoken feelings to each other. “Je t’aime, Prodney”, said Abella with the stars lighting in her eyes. “Ya tebya lublu”, replied Prodney with passion in his heart and the two new lovers joined each other in a long loving kiss.

This is a night to remember for these two lovers, it was a beautiful night, or what the people of Florence call ‘Bella Notte’.

Arthur D James joined Park Lane Stables as a volunteer in 2019 and is now a full-time member of the team.

Prodney is Chief Equine Officer (CEO) at Park Lane Stables, and achieved celebrity status following the TV coverage in 2021. And yes, he really is a bit of a star on YouTube and TikTok. Just search for Park Lane Stables and do follow us!