Alfalfa

Me in the only size 2 pants I ever wore with Frosty. That's Wayne in the background.

I walked for over an hour this morning. It was a beautiful day, and towards the end of my route, trotting down Cottonwood I smelled it. Fresh mown alfalfa. Nothing like it! It took me back to my days of owning a horse.

After my wonderful summer at Camp Cheley in Estes Park, CO, my parents gave me a horse for my birthday - a dream come true! I was so fortunate that my buddy Sal had parents (mainly her Dad Wayne) who "did" horses. He agreed to help look for a horse that would be right for a novice like me.

Her name was Frosty, and she was a 10 year old grey mostly quarter horse mare. We bought her from a family in Yale, Iowa. Wayne pulled his trailer up to get her and I rode along, ready to explode the whole way. My own horse!

Back then we all kept our horses (since we lived in town, and my dad was in ladies underwear) at the old Cass County Fairgrounds right off highway 6. To get there you had to take the gravel road right near a small filling station, and at the curve was a building Candace's Dad kept his Frito Lay stock. I'd see him there often, as I went to feed Frosty each evening.

In the mornings I was lucky that a retired guy named Dean agreed to feed Frosty and the Rodgers' horses. Frosty's stall had a small outdoor run, so she could get fresh air during good weather. There was also a ring we could exercise them in and a small field we could turn the horses out in to graze. It was pretty nice!

I learned a lot from Frosty, who could be a grumpy old bitch. Hmmm maybe that's where I got it! She was steady as a rock (and trotted like a jack hammer...). She had a lumpy neck and wasn't a real showy gal. Upon her back I could ride along the beautiful Iowa countryside - where Atlantic Plaza and HyVee are now, down the dirt lane along the Nishna Botna River. Good therapy for a teen girl not happy about growing up.

I also learned a great deal hanging out at the "Barn". There was a guy named Tony who kept horses in a different building who had a beagle who had pups. The dog was nervous about letting a stranger up close to the puppies, so I learned to first sit and just get her used to my presence. As the days went on I crept closer to the cute balls 'o fur, and after a couple weeks I was allowed to touch them.

We also had a barn tomcat I called "Bumps" as his head was truly lumpy, and he had half an ear torn off. Other feral cats lived in the area. I had a great time exploring the old barns - one time Sal and I forced our way into what had been the Fair Office. It contained old calendars and fair info from a much earlier era. I dug an old liquor bottle out of the dirt floor in our barn. And I was lucky that my saddle wasn't stolen when the others were taken from our tack room. Mine had been at the saddle shop being repaired.

I learned how much personality each horse has, and how they make such friendships with each other. I had Frosty a couple years and her former family contacted us - they wanted her back! But they had a nice 3 year old gelding they thought I might like. I burst into tears at the thought of losing Frosty, but I sure wanted a new challenge, a true registered quarter horse. More about Jack next...