Recently my niece asked me if I'd every owned a horse until it died. I gave her an abridged version of my horse-history, and have decided it might be enlightening to dredge up my horse-history (horstory?).
It's difficult for me to recall a time when horses were not a part of my awareness. My grandfather was a government cowboy when he married my grandmother, employed in predator control in Arizona (or was it New Mexico?) His after-Sunday dinner stories are part of my memory--especially the tale of how he won a horse race driving a pacer against a saddle horse.
It's difficult for me to recall a time when horses were not a part of my awareness. My grandfather was a government cowboy when he married my grandmother, employed in predator control in Arizona (or was it New Mexico?) His after-Sunday dinner stories are part of my memory--especially the tale of how he won a horse race driving a pacer against a saddle horse.
I rode horses outside the drugstore--piebalds with real leather saddles and bridles and a place to insert quarters. Most often, I rode them without quarters. Prior to, and during the time I was in Kindergarten, my family rented a house behind our landlady's home. She had twin grandchildren, a boy and a girl. They were older than I and had a horse that lived there also.
On one occasion the twins' stick horses came up missing and our landlady, Mrs. Marshall, came to the door and asked me if I'd seen them. I didn't have a clue, and let her know. Later, the horses were found where the twins had left them, and Mrs. Marshall brought a red and a blue stick horse for my younger sister and me. Mom told me that Mrs. Marshall felt guilty because she'd thought that I'd taken them. I guess Mrs. Marshall had discerned my facination with horseflesh.
On one occasion the twins' stick horses came up missing and our landlady, Mrs. Marshall, came to the door and asked me if I'd seen them. I didn't have a clue, and let her know. Later, the horses were found where the twins had left them, and Mrs. Marshall brought a red and a blue stick horse for my younger sister and me. Mom told me that Mrs. Marshall felt guilty because she'd thought that I'd taken them. I guess Mrs. Marshall had discerned my facination with horseflesh.
The twins did let me sit on their horse while he stood in the pasture, though. I was home from school with the mumps, and I recall my mother not being pleased at all.
My grandfather didn't have a horse during my lifetime--probably for a good deal of time before that, but he made sure I had a pony by the time I was 6. There was no saddle, and the bridle was for a regular-sized pony, not one that would fit it the back seat of the Buick. So, I carried the bridle over my shoulder every day, like a purse, to Kindergarten. The pony lived at my grandparents home, where it masqueraded as a big dog. More to come.
My grandfather didn't have a horse during my lifetime--probably for a good deal of time before that, but he made sure I had a pony by the time I was 6. There was no saddle, and the bridle was for a regular-sized pony, not one that would fit it the back seat of the Buick. So, I carried the bridle over my shoulder every day, like a purse, to Kindergarten. The pony lived at my grandparents home, where it masqueraded as a big dog. More to come.
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