I was 15 and couldn't wait to spend time with a beautiful girl that grew up between Yorkville & Dyer. I bought books to help me to understand her better..........& I didn't like to read. She was a beautiful sorrel Quarter Horse yearling.
I had grown up around the farm, but had never really done much with horses. Most of my equine experience had been with 2 mean Shetland ponies that Daddy got to pull a wagon. (I can't wait to tell you that story!) My sisters had ridden some on a horse named Stormy. Her actual name was Hurricane Sadie, but my sisters had renamed her. She was a Quarter Horse that apparently had good blood lines, but I wanted an upgrade. Daddy made a deal with Pete & Sandra Young to trade Stormy for a filly. The Youngs wanted Stormy for a brood mare and Sandra later told me they called her "ole PH". My new girlfriend's name was Mud Creek Missy...... which was changed to Wendy. (And yes, there was a family discussion for a name) This boy was one happy dude! I even got a new saddle for my birthday.
At a year old, Wendy hadn't had much done with her. She had as much energy as I did. I wasn't there, but loading her in the trailer to come home was described as exciting. It just made me happy to get her to the farm and she got put in the barn lot with SPOT, a great big spotted horse. Our family was very excited about our new addition. On that day, our church welcomed its new Preacher, Willis Gilliland. We wanted to include them, so my sisters and I went by to visit and took his daughter Carla to see our new horse. I really doubt that she cared, but we felt it was a good excuse to show off our new horse and be neighborly. We got to the farm and found that she had split her head open running under the low barn. We of course panicked and drove to Dr. Thurmond's house. He of course remained calm and said it would be fine..... The scar eventually went away. I don't panic much about animal medical issues anymore, but when my son Jack fell and split HIS head on the bathtub, I panicked again and couldn't even think of my wife's name to yell for help... I know now that it's Amy. She is the one who I defer to for Human Medical issues. I can now handle the 4 legged ones.
The decision was made to break her myself and I spent lots of time calming her down and trying to get her used to everything. I had almost a year, before I would get on her back as a 2 year old. It was going to be a challenge, since both of us were very new at this. I needed to get better at riding, so I spent a lot of time on Spot riding out to the pasture through the cows. Spot was not going to get in a hurry (except heading back to the barn). If I needed to get a cow up, all I had to do was pick it out and Spot would take them back home. If a calf was walking too slow, he would simply lower his great big nose and push them ahead. If one of our bulls needed to be brought up, no horse was needed. I could just climb on him in the pasture and he would take ME to the barn. Spot was the horse that my mother took all of her Kindergarten kids to sit on. Our family even had one of our Christmas Cards with all 4 kids sitting on his back. (He measured about 16 hands). He didn't give me much experience with staying on a running horse, but it was better than nothing. Spot would stand perfectly still under one of our peach trees so I could climb on him and reach the peaches that he couldn't..... He was never that still if he had a saddle on.
When the time came for me to get on her for the first time, I was fairly confident. A lot of time had been spent preparing the two of us for this moment, putting things on her back and loading her on & off of a trailer (as an aside, don't ever load a horse on a trailer not hooked up to a truck like I did......once). It went pretty smoothly, although she was still high strung. I was 16, and was pretty sure I knew all I ever needed to know about anything and everything at that point in my life..... just ask my Mother. It took only a few rides before I got bucked off, but I do have a selective memory. I'm sure I was getting cocky and too complaisant, and I found a cockle burr under her blanket that I blamed the first time on. I tried to ride her often, even though sometimes it was much easier and faster to jump on my motorcycle to ride through the cows, than it was to catch and saddle my horse. She would go through ponds, over cattle rubs, through the woods...... but she was ALWAYS aware. I'm grateful that she didn't know what a snake was when the first one crossed our path or I would have been on the ground again. I could mount and dismount from both sides, wave a towel and even twirl a lasso over her head. I'll admit it was just for show since I couldn't catch a cow with a rope even if I was standing on the ground next to her..... Wendy progressed nicely in just a few months and did well working cows.
One day, Joe Douglas & I were getting the cows up to the barn. He was on Spot and I was on Wendy. We were going through a gate and I got too close to a post causing my leg to get pulled back into Wendy's flank. It didn't take much for her to throw me off, right into a mud puddle. I did as the books say, and I got right back on. I actually had no choice, there was work to do. After we got through with the cows, I noticed my watch was missing. Joe (who lived & worked at the farm for YEARS) found it in the mud the next morning, and of course the Timex was still ticking. I considered sending my story in for a commercial, but I was afraid they would make me reenact the scene. Don't think that those were the only 2 times I got tossed. I didn't count all of them.
After I went off to school I was only able to see and ride her in the summer and during breaks. Daddy & I decided that we would try to get her bred while I was in Vet School. I was warned by my professors that nobody in Vet School has anything normal happen with any of their animals, especially horses. She had a sorrel filly that gradually turned Red Roan. I never liked Roans until I saw her. She was beautiful. She was perfect. Because my dog's name was Gumby, we decided to call her Pokey. They had a GREAT time together running and chasing through the pasture.
Wendy got to grow old (about 30) in the cow pasture, without many riders. We did acquire two more horses for Finley & Claire to ride, that kept her company. She was just happy that I would take those other two to carry children around for the Humane Society fund raisers instead of her.
As with all animals, the time came to make sure that her life ended as smoothly as possible. I was very fortunate to have one of those defining moments that are so helpful in making the final decisions. It was just the 2 of us together in the pasture, and thankfully the tips I received from Dr. Blackford in Vet School about the final injection paid off, and everything was peaceful. It was still a tough day.
I had grown up around the farm, but had never really done much with horses. Most of my equine experience had been with 2 mean Shetland ponies that Daddy got to pull a wagon. (I can't wait to tell you that story!) My sisters had ridden some on a horse named Stormy. Her actual name was Hurricane Sadie, but my sisters had renamed her. She was a Quarter Horse that apparently had good blood lines, but I wanted an upgrade. Daddy made a deal with Pete & Sandra Young to trade Stormy for a filly. The Youngs wanted Stormy for a brood mare and Sandra later told me they called her "ole PH". My new girlfriend's name was Mud Creek Missy...... which was changed to Wendy. (And yes, there was a family discussion for a name) This boy was one happy dude! I even got a new saddle for my birthday.
At a year old, Wendy hadn't had much done with her. She had as much energy as I did. I wasn't there, but loading her in the trailer to come home was described as exciting. It just made me happy to get her to the farm and she got put in the barn lot with SPOT, a great big spotted horse. Our family was very excited about our new addition. On that day, our church welcomed its new Preacher, Willis Gilliland. We wanted to include them, so my sisters and I went by to visit and took his daughter Carla to see our new horse. I really doubt that she cared, but we felt it was a good excuse to show off our new horse and be neighborly. We got to the farm and found that she had split her head open running under the low barn. We of course panicked and drove to Dr. Thurmond's house. He of course remained calm and said it would be fine..... The scar eventually went away. I don't panic much about animal medical issues anymore, but when my son Jack fell and split HIS head on the bathtub, I panicked again and couldn't even think of my wife's name to yell for help... I know now that it's Amy. She is the one who I defer to for Human Medical issues. I can now handle the 4 legged ones.
The decision was made to break her myself and I spent lots of time calming her down and trying to get her used to everything. I had almost a year, before I would get on her back as a 2 year old. It was going to be a challenge, since both of us were very new at this. I needed to get better at riding, so I spent a lot of time on Spot riding out to the pasture through the cows. Spot was not going to get in a hurry (except heading back to the barn). If I needed to get a cow up, all I had to do was pick it out and Spot would take them back home. If a calf was walking too slow, he would simply lower his great big nose and push them ahead. If one of our bulls needed to be brought up, no horse was needed. I could just climb on him in the pasture and he would take ME to the barn. Spot was the horse that my mother took all of her Kindergarten kids to sit on. Our family even had one of our Christmas Cards with all 4 kids sitting on his back. (He measured about 16 hands). He didn't give me much experience with staying on a running horse, but it was better than nothing. Spot would stand perfectly still under one of our peach trees so I could climb on him and reach the peaches that he couldn't..... He was never that still if he had a saddle on.
When the time came for me to get on her for the first time, I was fairly confident. A lot of time had been spent preparing the two of us for this moment, putting things on her back and loading her on & off of a trailer (as an aside, don't ever load a horse on a trailer not hooked up to a truck like I did......once). It went pretty smoothly, although she was still high strung. I was 16, and was pretty sure I knew all I ever needed to know about anything and everything at that point in my life..... just ask my Mother. It took only a few rides before I got bucked off, but I do have a selective memory. I'm sure I was getting cocky and too complaisant, and I found a cockle burr under her blanket that I blamed the first time on. I tried to ride her often, even though sometimes it was much easier and faster to jump on my motorcycle to ride through the cows, than it was to catch and saddle my horse. She would go through ponds, over cattle rubs, through the woods...... but she was ALWAYS aware. I'm grateful that she didn't know what a snake was when the first one crossed our path or I would have been on the ground again. I could mount and dismount from both sides, wave a towel and even twirl a lasso over her head. I'll admit it was just for show since I couldn't catch a cow with a rope even if I was standing on the ground next to her..... Wendy progressed nicely in just a few months and did well working cows.
One day, Joe Douglas & I were getting the cows up to the barn. He was on Spot and I was on Wendy. We were going through a gate and I got too close to a post causing my leg to get pulled back into Wendy's flank. It didn't take much for her to throw me off, right into a mud puddle. I did as the books say, and I got right back on. I actually had no choice, there was work to do. After we got through with the cows, I noticed my watch was missing. Joe (who lived & worked at the farm for YEARS) found it in the mud the next morning, and of course the Timex was still ticking. I considered sending my story in for a commercial, but I was afraid they would make me reenact the scene. Don't think that those were the only 2 times I got tossed. I didn't count all of them.
After I went off to school I was only able to see and ride her in the summer and during breaks. Daddy & I decided that we would try to get her bred while I was in Vet School. I was warned by my professors that nobody in Vet School has anything normal happen with any of their animals, especially horses. She had a sorrel filly that gradually turned Red Roan. I never liked Roans until I saw her. She was beautiful. She was perfect. Because my dog's name was Gumby, we decided to call her Pokey. They had a GREAT time together running and chasing through the pasture.
Wendy got to grow old (about 30) in the cow pasture, without many riders. We did acquire two more horses for Finley & Claire to ride, that kept her company. She was just happy that I would take those other two to carry children around for the Humane Society fund raisers instead of her.
As with all animals, the time came to make sure that her life ended as smoothly as possible. I was very fortunate to have one of those defining moments that are so helpful in making the final decisions. It was just the 2 of us together in the pasture, and thankfully the tips I received from Dr. Blackford in Vet School about the final injection paid off, and everything was peaceful. It was still a tough day.
The camera doesn't do her justice.
She had "the need for speed"
Christmas Card about 1964. Spot, me, Sally, Marion & Nancy.
Daddy with Spot and a bunch of Kindergarteners. (about 1971)
Wow, a normal foal!
Pokey started changing colors
Claire on Wendy with Tucker in the background
Finley riding with Claire, Tucker & Sydney in the truck
We had about 3 of our Herd Bulls that would let me ride them in the pasture..... I spent a lot of time at the farm.
For those of you not old enough (or too old) to know about Gumby & Pokey.
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