When I was a little girl I was totally crazy about horses. My room was full of little horse statues. I had all the Barbie horses, Dallas, Midnight, Dixie and Prancer.
I can remember way back when I was just a little bitty girl, probably one of the first memories I have, was of ole Blue. There really wasn't anything special about him. He was just an old gray horse. Blue was what people call dead broke. You could put anybody on him. Along with ole Blue there was Pepper and Buck.
Pepper was a dark colored horse and he wasn't quiet as broke as Blue but he was still a gentle horse. Buck, on the other hand, had the perfect name. Yes, Buck liked to buck.
I have a couple really funny stories that my grandpa used to tell and one of them was about Buck and me. I guess from the way he used to tell it, I was in diapers when this story happened. Anyway, I toddled out into the pasture with the horses when nobody was looking. Buck was notorious for kicking and when they discovered that I was out with the horses everybody got all out of sorts. Grandpa came out to the gate and yelled at me to get back to the house. Well, I guess I had a mind of my own and it wasn't telling me to go back to the house. Or maybe I just knew I was in trouble and didn't want to go. Either way Buck knew what needed to be done. Everybody held their breath as Buck walked over and bent down and stuck his head against my back. He then proceeded to nudge me all the back to the gate. Once we got to the gate and he knew I was safely on the other side. He trotted off a safe distance than decided to kick.
Then, when I was about 6 we got into the horse business again around our house. My grandpa and my uncle decided to buy the neighbors horses. I know we bought quite a few but I only remember Suzy and Ginger. Ginger was an old horse and she was really gentle. Grandpa decided to sell them but I remember that they kept one of the younger mares which was Suzy. A few weeks later grandpa and my uncle went to an auction that lasts 3 days up north called Four Square Auction. That's when they came home with Bart. So then we had Bart and Suzy. Bart was a black gelding and I used to imagine him being Black Beauty.
Later we had a little mule named Carrot. He pulled my uncle in a two wheeled cart. It was really fun to ride in.
My favorite horse though was Tory. His name was actually Zane Tory's Warrior. He was out of Zane Gray a famous Fox Trotter. Tory was what you called double papered. He was a Missouri Fox Trotter and an American Fox Trotter. Tory was an awesome horse. He was lady broke which means that he was partial to women, or girls. I could do anything with Tory and I did. I was never allowed to ride by myself but I did everything else. I had no fear. I would walk under his belly. I would walk behind him. I would lay all over him. I should mention. that while we had Tory, we also had an Appaloosa named Diablo. Diablo was somewhat of an onery character. He once kicked my grandpa's pocket off his jeans.
Our neighbor had a little mare named Shiloh that we kept for a while. She was a small horse. One day when I was out in the pasture with grandpa I was standing across the fence from her. As quick as a shot, she reached across the fence and tore part of my nose off. See when a horse bites down their jaws lock. I jerked back, of course and she tore the right part of my nose. For the longest time I had an indention on that side of my nose where it healed. I still have a minimal scar on the inside of my nose.
When I got older grandpa decided to get me a horse of my own. He ended up buying me a little mare that wasn't broke. That whole thing was disasterous. Me and her started off okay but it ended not so okay. She realized that Tory and Diablo lived in a pasture on the other side of the barn one day when I had her out and about teaching her to lead. Well, she broke away from me and after grandpa caught her he decided he would have a try at her. Well, she drug him down through the pasture. He looked like a sled being drug behind a sled dog. Bobbing and weaving here and there but he wasn't letting go. I went to the house because I figured he was going to shoot her if he ever got control over her. Instead, he decided she was more of a hassle than she was worth and she got sold.
We had both Tory and Diablo for a few more years and then like usual we got rid of them. I remember the day that my grandpa sold them I stood in the yard and watched him load them. I remember him calling out, "Bug, you want to ride Tory into the trailer." I cried and cried. I wouldn't even go and say goodbye. I stood and the hot, salty tears ran down my face for what seemed like hours. We never had anymore horses after them.
I can remember standing in the yard with every horse that we had and the horses would come up and stick their heads over the fence and I would feed them sugar cubes. There is nothing softer than a horses nose as it feels like velvet against your palm as they take the sugar cube.
When I was about 20, I met a deputy from Christian County. We became good friends and I used to go ride his horses. He had a paint horse named Paint. I loved riding that horse. I always hated galloping because I felt like I was going to fall out of the saddle but I loved to trot and most of all I just liked to meander around. There's something about a horse. Once you get to know your animal you become one with him. I can truly understand why they make good therapy animals.
My feelings for horses changed though recently. I worked at a hospital for about a year. It seemed like this past summer there was so many accidents involving horses. One lady was brought in because she was riding at an arena and her horse got spooked and he threw her. She ended up with a couple broken ribs and a hip fracture. The one that I remember vividly was the three year old little girl. She was brought in for being kicked in the head. She had walked behind the horse and he kicked. Luckily kids are resilient and it was more of a scare and a little laceration. Then we had a boy in his early twenties that was grooming his horse like he had a million times before. The young man walked behind the horse, reached up to curry his hindquarters and lost an ear and most of his teeth and also had some cerebral swelling. Last I had heard they weren't sure he would ever be able to speak correctly again and possibly would have some learning issues due to the damage to his skull.
After this, I came home and announced that I didn't want a horse anymore. I know that horses are just like cars, four wheelers, seadoos or any other thing. You can get hurt just as equally. The thing about cars, four wheelers and such is that it would be my fault. I would either be a lack of attention or just plain stupidity that gets me hurt. A horse, well he has a mind of his own and I can't think for him. A horse, like a dog, is going to sometimes revert back sometimes to those survival genes. So for now, I have made the decision that I will admire horses from the fence or the highway. Maybe someday I will change my mind but for now, I'm going to play it safe.
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