My cousin Bill Young hired two horses for out 2004 Rea reunion at the Young farm. They were for the kids, as they were lead by halters, but then again I am still a kid! So I took my turn and climbed on a horse for the first time in at least 40 years. After getting settled in the saddle, I asked Katie to give me Ethan so we could ride the horse together. Amazingly, the little guy was happy to oblige. It is not everyday that you can introduce a grandchild to something as special as a ride on a horse.
My 7th birthday fell on Easter. That is not easy when your birthday falls on the 17th of April. And my present was my own horse. It was the best birthday present in all my 62 years. It was a dream come true. I named her Blackstar since she was black. And she was HUGE to my 7 year old eyes. And I had no idea how to ride her. I tried to go through the gate into the 5 acre field next to the farm house. But Blackstar knew I had no clue, so she would do nothing. Miles Patton was a year older and much more knowledgable about large animals. He got on and showed me what was possible. And eventually I did learn to ride her, though it took me some time to do that.
We had two other horses on the farm at that time: a stallion named Billy and a filly named Katheren. Billy was very difficult to ride. The strongest men on the farm had real trouble with him. Billy was sold not too long after Blackstar arrived. Katheren was tame, and was occasionally used to move cattle from one place to another. She was too big for me to ride, being even bigger than Blackstar. In time I was able to move everything but the bull. Often the only way to move him was a pickup truck that was nudging his rear end, sometimes at a fair speed. I thought that was quite exciting.
My horse meant freedom. I lived in the middle of Oak Run Township, about 7 miles from the nearest town. I could get nearly anywhere on Blackstar's back. I rode thrrought the fields and lanes and back roads. I was only on state route 56 for very short intervals. There was too much traffic, even back in the 50's. Miles Patton, Bud Stewart and crazy Don Burwell. We did a lot of camping, carrying our gear behind the saddle. We generally would stay out only one night. We hobbled the horses front legs together to keep them from straying too far. I well remember looking out the tent window one morning straight up at Blackstar's rear end as she was moving around. It would not have been a good thing if she fell over on me!
None of us had any money, so we would stop at houses and ask if they could give us any empty pop bottles that we could return for the deposit. People were very nice and would give us whatever emptys they had. At 2 cents a bottle, it was enough to pop and candy and later loose tobacco and cigarette papers. We felt like quite the cowboy rolling our cigarettes. I had little skill at this and mine were always very loosely packed. If we took off at a gallop while I was smoking one of those silly things, it flamed up like a blowtorch and burned so rapidly I could barely keep from being burned! Pipes worked a little better, but cigars were thebest. They were big, smelly things, but they were a lot milder than cigarettes or pipes. That didn't last very long as I started running track as a freshman in high school and that was the end of my smoking!
I had the hardest time getting Blackstar to cross water, even a drainage ditch. This was a constant battle. Once returning from Don Burwell's house, I simply could not get her across the drainage ditch parallel to the Van Wagner road. In frustration I got off and led/pulled her across the ditch. When she was in the middle ofthe ditch, something spooked her and she bolted. I was knocked down and she ran over me. I had a hoof print on one hip and another on my back. Fortunately a horse will not put weight if it is not solid. It hurt like hell, but they were only bruises. I had to catch her and ride her home as it was at least 2 miles home. I made it to the field behind our house and there I unsaddled her and limped home. I was not able to walk for a couple of days, but everything healed. Large animals can hurt you you unintentionally.
My first broken arm came from falling off Blackstar. For some unknown reason I was riding her bareback in the field beside the house. She went under a low branch and I could not regain my balance after ducking under the limb. Snapped both bones in my lower left are cleanly. My hand and lower are were held on by the muscles and skin. I assumed something came out of joint. It was only at the doctor's office I notices there was no joint where I had the problem. It was a really bad break. The doctor who pieced my grandfather's leg together after it was run over by a railroad car fixed it. That weekend he set two other breaks similar to mine. I was the only one that didn't need metal plates to hold the bones. The break was so clean, that the ends were not exactly even. When it healed it was stronger than ever. I broke that arm twice more, once in a fight and once ice skating. but it never broke at the original site. I was so lucky.
I had whooping cough one spring and missed many weeks of school. I was kept from school long after I recovered. Often I wold ride over to Burwells and race the school bus from the stop at Foremans to the stop at Burwells. I could not understand why I was not allowed to go to school.
By the time I was 15, my interest in riding waned. Eventually Blackstar went to the Beery farm next door for the Beery boys to ride. She was lilled by a lightning bolt while seeking shelter from a rain storm. I loved that horse and I loved the freedom it gave me. I would sneak out of my room at night by climbing down the wooden trim at the corner of the house and take a ride in the moonlight. Some times even riding the couple of miles to Burwells. I still remember the beautiful, moonlit countryside.
My last horseride at the farm was on my brother's horse Apache. He was smaller, but he was a mean cuss. I rode him to see Jerry Beery. When I turned Apache loose in the pasture, he tried to kick my head. I ducked, but this was near the end of college and I have not been on a horse until July of 2004.