And that is why sapient horses consider stargazing so dangerous. Silly ponies.

Inspired by this famous 'equine', originally posted in an Inkbunny journal, and now formally submitted here. Can you count the references?

Story © 2014 Marvin E. Fuller

(References:
~ Houyhnhnm – the sapient horses from Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels,
~ M'nemaxa – the horse-like eldritch abomination from Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger that gallops around the edge of the universe, reputedly to cause it to end when He finally returns to where He started,
~ She Who Races Across the Day and She Who Canters Across the Night – Princesses Celestia and Luna from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.)