I love horses...

I love horses and I have since I was a little girl. I like everything about them - especially the way they smell. Nothing else smells like a horse - I even like the smell of their food - getting a whiff of alfalfa hay and sweet feed when I climb into my truck makes me smile!

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve a horse - so does one of my scariest, one of my saddest and one of my most financially lucrative deals as a child. I was thinking about all of these things just the other day...

Our family was given two Kentucky Mountain Saddle horses a few days ago. We were so ecstatic - now, each one of us owns a KMSH to ride. We also have a miniature horse for Edison and we can all ride together as a family. The horses we inherited the other day were both beautiful buckskin mares.

The owners were very emotional about losing their horses; however, they were looking for someone who would take care of them and love them as much as they did. They also knew the horses would be happier to have people to ride them. When we went to pick up the horses, the gentleman who was so nice to give them to our family walked inside his house crying as we were securing the trailer and the horses for travel. His wife stayed in the house and would not even come out. I felt horrible because I knew how they felt.

When I was very, very young, my Uncle Larry gave me a shetland pony named Peanut for my birthday. The pony was useless really - I couldn't even ride him. I would tie him up to the fence and spend forever just sitting on him. Every now and then I was lucky enough to have my cousin, Brenda, come to the house and she would lead me around the field. My mom and dad knew practically nothing about caring for horses, so this little guy just stayed in the field. I'm sure his hooves were never trimmed and he probably foundered. One day, I looked out the window and saw a horse trailer backed up to the fence and then I saw some people loading Peanut. No one had told me - I remember I started to cry and I probably screamed and I was mad! I think I even recall my mom fussing at my dad saying that she couldn't believe he had loaded that horse to take away without even telling me - I don't know if that happened or not - that could have been wishful thinking on my part. Losing a horse is like losing part of your soul, especially when you love everything about one as I did. I don't recall where Peanut was taken. I'm not sure they told me and if they did, I'm not sure I was told the truth. Knowing what I know now, she was probably taken to the stockyards and then on to a glue factory somewhere. If you have ever watched the movie, Flicka, a similar situation occurred and I cried because I knew how the girl felt about her mean old dad (Tim McGraw). So that was one of my saddest memories - now I'll tell one of the best memories!

We lived on a big farm in a big farm house when I got a little older. The owner's brother kept two Tennessee Walking horses at the farm for awhile. Their names were Wendy and Star. Wendy was so gentle. Occasionally, I could talk someone into tacking her up for me and I would ride and ride. We had a very long driveway that made a circle at the side of the house. It was a big circle with the drive branching off to various other parts of the farm, the barn lot, the hog lot, the back of the farm and other buildings. The circle had a big grassy area in the middle so of course, being the horse lover that I was, it reminded me of a horse show ring. I remember riding Wendy around and around that circle - pretending that she was picking up those front feet as high as she could. Of course, I was always awarded the blue ribbon and silver platter!

My best memory with a horse involves the same horse that was part of my scariest memory. My cousin, Lisa, was a very experienced rider. She came to the house one day and helped me tack Star and Wendy. Star was a very spirited horse and I was not allowed to ride her but Lisa was. We were all tacked up and went riding on the farm. Wendy followed Star everywhere. When Star was acting bad and took Lisa under a tree with low branches and thorns, Wendy was right on her tail and I was taken under the sharp, thorny tree as well. We were bleeding but continued to ride. We got out into an open pasture and something spooked Star. She threw Lisa off and started running as fast as she could go. Of course, Wendy took off after her. Lisa told me to slide off or I was going to get thrown. I held on with all I had - white knuckles - thank goodness I had a western saddle with a horn. I have never rode so fast or been so scared in my life as I was that day. I just remember Lisa kept yelling at me to slide off!!!! I kept yelling back, "No, I can't" and I didn't! I held on for the ride! Lisa was finally able to catch Star. I'm not sure how long Wendy and I ran after Star, it probably wasn't as long as it seemed! I was shaking so hard and crying when Lisa finally caught both horses. She had to help me off and we walked the horses back to the barn. I don't recall riding Wendy after that. Thanks alot Star!!

Now for my financially lucrative deal. My Uncle June was at our house one day. We lived on the same farm. His daughter, Raye Ann, had a pony named Pepper. I loved Pepper. I don't recall how this all came about but I remember Uncle June telling me that he would sell me that horse for $5.00! Well, I ran in the house as fast as I could, pryed the rubber stopper out of the bottom of my penny bank and dug out five - $1.00 bills that I knew were in there. I ran back and gave them to Uncle June. I didn't know at the time, but later learned he didn't think I would have $5.00 and really had no intention of selling his daughter's horse, however, being raised as a good ole' country boy - his word was good. I don't think Raye was very happy to learn that her dad had sold her horse - but anyway, in a few days, Pepper was at our farm and he was MINE!!! I don't remember how long I had him but I was talked into selling him. Again, I watched a horse be loaded up and taken away. I cried again but I knew what was happening. My dad returned and gave me $40.00! My sister and brother sold calves and always had big savings accounts. Mine wasn't as big as theirs, but I did open my own savings account with that $40.00. As it turns out, Pepper was a good investment for me.


In the winter, when it's so cold outside, you can place your icy cold hands underneath a horses mane and it feels like a heater. It is one of the best feelings in the world. As spring arrives, I'm ready for the fresh green grass and the smell of leather as we are able to tack up and ride in the warm sunshine!