When I saw this prompt, horses immediately came to mind. While sadly, I have never owned my own horse, I have some history with them as do others in my family. Girls and horses, what can you say, they just seem drawn to each other naturally. I was always interested in horses. I read book after book about them or their stories from elementary school on up. Walter Farley was a favorite author with his Black Stallion series of stories. But I think the first horse book I read was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and I was hooked for good. I loved pony rides at fairs and amusement parks when I was little. I even entered a radio station contest to try and win a horse. I didn't win. I don't know what my parents would have done had I won. Although by this time, horses were already trotting their way into my family, so who really knows what could have been.
Almost all of us have ancestors who used horses for transportation or working the farm or sport. Horses are in integral part of human history. I even have a cousin, who used her horse to deliver newspapers in town on her paper route when she was young girl. My dad's grandfather farmed and dad would have been exposed and surely rode some horses, although he never told us much about that. He was also very interested in thoroughbred horse racing. As a math teacher, dad was naturally interested in how numbers played a part in placing wagers at race tracks. He would sit for what seemed like hours with his racing form newspaper trying to figure out which horse would win a race. He seemed to have devised his own system to choose potential winners. He also attended live racing events at tracks in Charles Town, West Virginia and Hagerstown, Maryland not far from where he grew up in Bedford, PA. I think one other thing that influenced him was an aunt, an uncle and his grandmother who also followed the races and came along on trips to the track as well. When he would go to a track, they would also send along their picks so he could place bets for them as well. He did take me along once or twice and it was fun to watch all of the horses. I was partial to the gray ones. When two new tracks opened up in Harrisburg and the Poconos in Pennsylvania, near where we lived, he would be able to go more often.
My mom's first experience with horses came in 1954 right before she was married. She and my dad were visiting his sister in Pittsburgh and they all went riding at South Park where trail rides were offered. All mom talked about was the saddle sores she ended up with. She would not mount another horse for another 17 or so years.
Our family's chapters of horse ownership started with my maternal grandfather. Grandad was the son of Italian immigrants and was born in 1906. He said he rode horses when he was young and was a big fan of Western movies all of his life, especially John Wayne and Louis L'Amour books. Grandad had worked in a silk mill from the time he was 16. He retired at 65 after 49 years at the mill. As a widower and single dad since age 35, this 64 year old, 5' 5 1/2" tall Italian grandpa bought a horse, all the tack, a cowboy hat and boots and eventually, a horse trailer. His horse was a palomino Tennessee Walker with four white stockings named Checkers. Grandad lived in Lock Haven, PA and boarded Checkers at a local farm owned by a Ben Collins. He used to take us there to ride Checkers and some of the other horses there. So much fun! He also found a man named Lundy Flick, who gave riding lessons and also bred Appaloosa horses on his farm.
As granddaughters whose grandfather owned a horse, my two sisters and I would get to go riding almost every time we would go visit him. Unfortunately, he lived about two hours away from us, but none the less, it was more horse time than we had ever had before. The following summer, we spent about 6 weeks or so visiting grandad and we also took riding lessons from Mr. Flick. He had four children and at the end of our lessons we had a Fun Show with them where we got to show our parents what we had learned. I was 16 at the time and my sisters were 13 and 9. Also that year, grandad had taken a liking to the Appaloosas he saw on Flick's farm. He somehow made a deal with Lundy to buy one of that year's yearlings. Lundy told him he could pick out whichever one he wanted. So grandad made his pick. Lundy, a bit chagrined, told him that he had picked the best one of the lot. Grandad named his new horse Cherokee Chief. Cherokee was a leopard Appaloosa, meaning that he was all white with black spots all over. A lifelong friendship had begun.
While grandad was waiting for Cherokee to be ready for him, an opportunity came along for a job at a brand new riding stable, Belle's Springs, where he would be the manager and Lundy Flick provided the horses. That next summer we visited grandad again for 2 weeks and helped out at the stable and helped keep the horses in riding shape for visitors. Checkers was stabled there also and grandad spent his down time teaching Checkers to bow like Roy Rogers' horse Trigger. Grandad kept riding Checkers while Cherokee was being trained. Once he was trained and Grandad could ride him, he found Checkers a new home. He and Cherokee continued their riding lessons. He also taught Cherokee to bow along with a some other fancy footwork. Grandad managed the stable for a few years and then he moved in with my mom and dad. Of course, Cherokee came along. Grandad found a new place to continue his riding lessons.
The Express, 4 May 1972, pg 8
By this time I had gotten married, but my sisters benefitted greatly from having Grandad and Cherokee close by. So much so, that our parents bought them a horse from Lundy Flick, Sheba. Unbeknownst to all, one day Sheba presented them with a surprise foal that they named Flecka. Now they owned two horses! They joined 4H and began participating in small local horse shows. They did all kinds of events, from halter classes to barrel racing. A few years later, they found Sheba a new home and bought a new horse named Rags for barrel racing events. I believe he may have been a Quarter Horse. One sister rode him and the other used Cherokee in equestrian events.
Rags
Cherokee with his saddle blanket hand made by our paternal grandmother
My daughter's first time on a horse - Sheba
And some of her first rides on Cherokee at 2 years old and with her aunt and great grandfather
Lady
Rocket
Kiowa and Cherokee
Meanwhile, during this same time, Grandad had an idea. The year was 1976, the Bicentennial year. One of the events for that celebration was a Wagon Train. Hundreds of people from all over the country left their homes on horseback or by wagon and met in Valley Forge, PA on July 4, 1976. Some were on the road for a year traveling thousands of miles across the country. Grandad decided he wanted to do this with Cherokee. By this time Grandad was 70 years old. The wagon train would be passing through his old hometown of Mill Hall near Lock Haven, so that is where he began his ride. He rode Cherokee 220 miles in 11 days to Valley Forge, sometimes sleeping under the stars. Mom thought he was crazy, but they made it. An adventure of a lifetime. Afterwards, grandad had the four horseshoes that Cherokee used in the wagon train mounted and framed. It hung in mom's house for many years. His home video of scenes from his adventure is posted on YouTube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR2J-UzLAqc
Grandad and Cherokee moved back to the Lock Haven area for a brief time to be near his family which left my sisters with just one horse. I am fuzzy on the timeline of these years but a quarter horse, named Handy, joined the family. He was my youngest sister's horse. Also in this time period, my other sister became interested in farrier work and took a course at Penn State to learn the trade. She learned a lot about the anatomy of a horse's legs and hooves which served her well when she began working as a groom at the local thoroughbred race track in Harrisburg. She eventually became a trainer for both horses she owned and others variously over the years. She worked at tracks in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Her husband was a jockey. Later, she remarried to another jockey turned trainer. He was a successful jockey in New York in his riding days. They ended up settling back where her equine career started near Harrisburg. It can be a hard life working from early mornings till late at night taking care of and training thoroughbreds on a racetrack. You have to really love it. My sister eventually gave that up but her husband always kept his hand in it in many different ways. Up until recently and in his 80's, her husband worked walking horses at the track and as an agent for jockeys. My sister also took up a new equestrian activity in recent years - horse drawn carriage competitions. She started by taking care of the carriage horses, which were beautiful Friesians, and learning the sport as she went. Eventually she earned a place on the carriage during competitions.
Carriage competition - the two people on the back helped with balancing the carriage when making turns
My mom did eventually ride a horse again, after being a 4H and horse show mom for years. And so much like her father bought her own horse, Kiowa, an Appaloosa. She took lessons and would eventually participate in some of the same horse shows as her daughters. In the meantime, Grandad moved back in with her and Cherokee came back as well. Kiowa and Cherokee were ridden by my mom, my grandad and my sisters for fun and in shows. Mom and Grandad made many lifelong friends by owning horses. They would go on trail rides together and more. Even my dad would occasionally go along.
Kiowa and Mom
During these years, my time on the farm ended when we moved to Virginia. No more horses for me except when we visited home and not every time. Grandad passed away shortly after we moved to Virginia at age 76, but Cherokee did not lose his home. He was a part of the family. Mom kept him.
As time went on, more grandchildren were added to the family. My sister's horse, Handy, found a new home on a retirement farm for horses and Cherokee passed away. Kiowa was gone but Mom bought a new horse named Albie, a blanket Appaloosa. She continued riding with friends and my sisters were married with kids. Some of these grandkids had their first rides on Cherokee or Kiowa. Dad would occasionally ride Cherokee with Mom.
Kiowa and Mom's granddaughter
My sister's time with horses would have seemed at an end as well. BUT, after her kids grew up and she remarried, they bought 13 acres and began building a dream. She had a quarter horse named Jed, and when the barn was ready to be occupied, Jed became it's first occupant. They bought a second horse for her husband, a pinto named Chance. Now she and her husband could ride together and with friends. Later, when Jed developed a hoof issue, he could not be ridden as much, so my sister bought a young pinto named Tucker, that she trained and rides today. Jed lives a life of retired ease. Three horses in her backyard. My sister now has a granddaughter who comes to visit her and has also fallen in love with horses. She will stay for a week or so just like we did with our grandad, riding and learning. She takes riding lessons where she lives and loves jumping horses. But Chance is her favorite.
Tucker and Jed
Chance
My sister's granddaughter at her lessons
My sister's lifelong time with horses has also given her a business. She has created a guide to trail riding. Her guide includes maps and information needed to travel and trail ride. And all kinds of other equine related information.
As for me, I would ride sometimes when we visited. We lived a bit closer, Pittsburgh, but not close enough to do frequent visiting. I now have grandchildren as well. The oldest, a girl, had her first ride as a toddler on her great grandma's horse Albie. As she got older, my daughter, granddaughter and myself took a few "girl trips" to visit my mom and sister's horses. We would all ride and had a lot of fun. My granddaughter fell for Jed, another gentle soul of a horse. We were in town for a family wedding one year and all of us stopped to see my sister. By this time I had six grandkids and all of them got to meet the horses. Another granddaughter had her first ride on that visit. The sons and grandsons in our family did not share the same interest in horses. The sons rode occasionally but did not develop the love for it. The grandsons were very young and it was just a curiosity to them I think. I once gave the older granddaughter a birthday gift of a trail ride at a local farm here, but, for me at least, it was just not the same experience as life had given our family. But it was very nice to have been able to ride with my granddaughter for an afternoon. Both of my granddaughters had a few more horse experiences thru Girl Scouts and a few actual riding lessons, but that is where it ends for my girls. Or does it? Time will tell.
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