Autos of beauty
For today (Saturday):
When your parents move often and you are a kid, you never know
what to expect at the next school or town. Sometimes it just ain’t fun. When we
moved to Valdese I met Guy Abee, Peter David Hunt, Paul Settlemeyer and the
brothers Jim & Bub Page, all unforgettable.
Betty Carswell was my first crush but she never knew it. LOL Robby
Cook was the lucky dude that landed her.
But the Garland Page family was the coolest folks I met, they had Frank,
a horse. and I got to ride
Frank.
Summer evenings on the front porch Garland would break
out the guitar. He had a voice of velvet. Bub & Jim were the ‘Everly
Brothers.’ ;-) They and Paul Settelmeyer sang in church. The Page family
could sing. I loved to join with them. They enjoyed some wonderful family time.
Bro and Sister Page farmed a small area and also raised hogs and
chickens. Garland worked for Kirksey, Sister Page in a local mill. Bub and Linda(?)
did the inside work Bub, the baker, cooked supper. Jim the outside chores. I tried
to help at times but was mostly in the way methinks.
I will never forget the times I had. The boys would borrow horses (they
got me a blind one once) and we would ride up into the mountains. I just knew I
was a cowboy.
Then one night I got a call, “Jackie?” Yeah Jim, “Frank is
dying.” I jumped on my bike (no light) and headed to the Pages’. I rode right by Paul's house and didn't stop, I was crying. How could this be? Ponies don’t die!
Frank had gotten into the oat barrel and ate too much then to
the creek and drank, he now lay on his side foundered. A Vet did everything he
could to save Frank, but to no avail he died.
Bub said he forgot and left the barrel uncovered. All I remember is everyone standing around crying. For a boy
in the eighth grade that was the saddest event ever.
The death of a big animal is hard to fathom for a kid. I don’t
remember how Frank was moved; you don’t pick up 1500-2000 pounds and put him in
a trailer
.
Frank was a pinto riding pony. Garland also plowed him. He was
replaced by another Pinto, I think Garland finally trained him to pull a plow
and he was ridden, but he was NEVER FRANK.
Kentucky and Florida have many beautiful horses, but none could
thrill me like Jim and Bub letting me ride Frank. He loved sugar cubes.
Nite
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4 comments:
Awe sweet but sad story. It’s been a long time since I heard of a “Pinto” horse. I had forgotten there was even such a thing.
Have a great Weekend
Lisa
As kids, there were always enough horses around for all of us. Poncho was a pinto and a smart boy, leading the pack usually, even tho he was the smallest of our horses. Penny, a beautiful slick bay, was mine. We went everywhere together. I'm glad I don't remember when Ol'Babe died. I think dad buried her while we were in school. Sorry about Frank. A foundered horse is a sad thing to see. Thanks for reminding me of all the wonderful horses we had as kids. We sure have been blessed.
love n' hugs from up north where we are due to get hit by a 'big one' in the form of snow, sleet and rain the next 3 days........waiting and filling water jugs 'just in case.'
What a tragedy you had to witness! I don't know why, but the death of a beloved animal can be more heart-wrenching than that of a human. To me, anyway. Perhaps it's because we're not certain we'll see them again in Heaven.
Thank you for sharing Frank's story.
Oh that was sad about Frank. Such a thing to have to see and definitely made a memory (sad one) in your mind.
betty
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