MOC6.26 Black Beauty

Horses were a big part of dad’s life as a child and teenager. Grandpa loved horses and always had lots of them on the farm. Bob and Louie were his two heavy draft horses. (They were named after two relatives who were in the Marines!) Bob was always two feet ahead of Louie but they were a team. Dad rode them sometimes when grandpa was cultivating the garden. One time, dad had three horses on a drag. A whirlwind came up and scared the horses and they took off. Luckily, dad had a hole in his shoe so he was able to get his foot out. He landed on the ground and the horses went right through the barn door.

When tractors started showing up on other farms, he tried to keep up with his horse teams. He used lighter, faster horses starting at 4 in the monring and then changed them out for another team at noon. Eventually, he gave up and traded Bob and Louie to Uncle Walt for his first John Deere tractor.

This photo shows Black Beauty. Dad rode him to boy scouts in town which meant riding home in the dark. He also rode him every morning before school to put out hay for the sheep. He rode bareback because putting on a saddle would take too much time. Plus, winters were cold in Minnesota and the horse helped keep him warm.

Credits: Maggie's Farm by Kristen Aagard
White Out by Allison Pennington (black paper and rick rack)