This pretty horse was one rescued from the Houston area flood. Last week, link, I had posted about the horse rescue effort. Then this Monday the H o u s t o n C h r o n i c l e front page had another article this time telling about the completed effort.
What warms me is that the horse reminds me very much of my horse, Minnie. Growing up, Minnie was our farm pony for riding. We had other draft horses for pulling equipment and wagons (also a sled in the winter).
When I started high school I rode Minnie to a two room country school for my first two years. New England School in Washington Country Nebraska held grades 1-6 in one room and 7-10 in the other. The two years I went we had three students in each grade each year.
Minnie was colored like the rescue horse but we cropped her mane to help her heal a fistula. After the healing we still kept her mane cropped to about two inches. She was also a little wider in girth as she had quite a few draft horse genes.
Our ride was three miles, at the end of the first mile I was met by a pair of sisters, both riding their horses also. Betty was a grade or two below me, Francis was in the one ahead. Another quarter mile we were met by Vivian on her bike.
The girls horses would jump over the little streams that show up after the rains. Soon Minnie, though an older horse, had also learned to jump.
Our school barn held either six or eight horses. At first there wasn't an opening for Minnie but before the first winter a stall opened for her. In the winters I often rode bareback as that would help both Minnie and me warmer.
When I transferred to a four year high school in town my dad bought me a 1937 Ford Tudor. It had been owned by a little old lady so was a low mileage car in very good shape. It also smelled of her strong perfume and makeup. We could drive at age 14 to school or work back then.
Before school started Dad decided that I should not drive the car as it was an older one with mechanical brakes, not hydraulic--way before power brakes were invented. That was his excuse for buying himself a new Ford pickup truck and my older Ford was his trade-in.
My sister, Lois (link), also drove the pickup to school for her senior year. She did not attend New England country school like I did. She rode with the cousins who had been riding with me for her first three years. I taught her how to drive.
[Lois 'baby' sits dogs for her son and grandchildren. She had never said yes to
my request for her to 'baby' sit Adi. Probably she thought I wasn't being serious.]
Lois did knock down one country mail box, but just that one. I had two accidents, neither was my fault. One was when a drunk driver almost head-onned me as I couldn't take the ditch where I was on the road. But at the last minute he veered and only swiped the side of Dad's truck.
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The Fine Print: Warm Heart Wednesday for the week of April 27. Click here, http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/ , for links of others or for directions to join with a post of your own. There Ms. Jenny is our teacher.
What a wonderful story about saving that horse. People work so hard to take care of their livestock.
ReplyDeleteOh the perils of driving when we're young. It takes some time for some to drive well and other just seem to drive right away. You sound like you were one of those.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Riding a horse to school sounds so different from where I grew up! You really did live out in the country. I did take horse back riding lessons though. I dreamed of being a cowgirl someday like Dale Evans. Guess I was destined to live in Texas, but I'm still not a cowgirl.
ReplyDeleteI read the article in the paper about those horses. I'm glad most were rescued.
So nice that the horses were rescued. She is a pretty thing. Loved hearing about your Minnie.
ReplyDeleteI love to see rescue stories. especially after these awful storms! What a nice article. Always so kind you you to stop by and visit my blog. Our youngest son turns 23 this August and he is finally wanting to drive. There are so many crazy drivers on the road today! My mom taught me hw to drive in the cemetery in my dad's Chevy truck. I can parell park and take corners nicely to this very day. Those little roads were so tight and narrow. Enjoy your weekend with Mrs. Jim and stay safe from these storms. Blessings, Anne
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed imagining you and your sisters riding your horses. I've often wondered what it would be like to ride horses as if it was nothing. I've ridden a horse 3 times. More like once and sat twice.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how your life has changed since those early years?! I'm sure it is hard for our children and grandchildren to fathom how different life was back then. My parents grew up in the days of kerosene lamps for lighting and long walks to school, or a wagon ride in foul weather. Years later, farm trucks and autos came into use. Now look at all the technology we have and are pretty sure we wouldn't want to live without! I think riding horses to school was a pretty sweet mode of transportation, and I am confident that each student got plenty of teacher attention in those small school rooms (without massive government interference)!
ReplyDeleteJosie
from Josie's Journal
Wow, Jim, such stories you have! I love that horses are being rescued....love that you rode bareback to school, and that there was a barn for protection for the horses. Smiled at the truck stories too, thankfully the fellow swerved and only side-swiped you so you werent hurt, and we get to enjoy your stories and poems.
ReplyDeleteLovely post . I liked the pictures and the blue font
ReplyDeletehttp://shilpachandrasekheran.blogspot.ae/2016/05/second-blog.html?m=1