When I self -published the children\u2019s book, \u201cButch the One of a Kind Dog,\u201d this story was included in the blog on the book\u2019s web site.\u00a0 When I started \u201cLoose Strings From The Past,\u201d the Butch blog was incorporated into the new site.\u00a0 This is one of the stories that never made it to the new site.\u00a0 It is actually not about Butch, but about the horses which we had when we lived in Harlingen, Texas.<\/p>\n
The Giants<\/p>\n
Butch had a short dachshund body. He must have thought giants had entered his world when the horses arrived in the Rio Grande Valley.\u00a0 The larger one was a stout quarter horse named Little Britches.\u00a0 The other was a young Appaloosa mare named Dolly.\u00a0 Butch was suspicious of them and barked at them.\u00a0 He sensed not to get too close.\u00a0 Once he realized they were not paying any attention to him, he quit barking and became comfortable going around the corral and watching them.<\/p>\n
Little Britches had not been ridden in about two years.\u00a0 He apparently liked that arrangement.\u00a0 The boys were eager to ride.\u00a0 Ken told them he needed to get the horse used to saddle and rider again before they could ride him.\u00a0 Ken took Little Britches behind the corral to a recently plowed field to work with him.\u00a0 Charles watched from the back yard waiting impatiently. \u00a0He kept asking, \u201cWhen can I ride?\u201d\u00a0 It did not take the horse very long to unseat Ken and walk back to the corral.\u00a0 Charles was a little unsettled, but Ken assured him that he was OK.\u00a0 The same thing happened again.\u00a0 The third time Ken was unseated, Charles called out, \u201cThat\u2019s OK Dad.\u00a0 I\u2019ll ride some other time.\u201d\u00a0 Fortunately, it ceased to be fun for the horse and he behaved after that.<\/p>\n
Our church had a riding group which rode in parades.\u00a0 They also had a stage coach pulled by a team for the younger children to ride in.\u00a0 Ken agreed to participate in the popular Christmas parades.\u00a0 Our pastor liked to ride Little Britches.\u00a0 The first parade was in San Benito.\u00a0 Ken said he knew he was in trouble after he agreed to switch horses with the pastor and ride his horse, Buttermilk.\u00a0 Buttermilk had a tie down.\u00a0 Ken asked why, and he was told that Buttermilk liked to rear up.\u00a0 That was not good. \u00a0Charles and Cynthia were in the stage coach.\u00a0 The youth group was next. \u00a0Kevin was with that group riding our gentle old horse, Mister.\u00a0 Ken and the pastor followed in the last position.<\/p>\n
All went well until the route went over double railroad tracks.\u00a0 The judge\u2019s stand was along the street there, and the street was lined with observers.\u00a0 The horses walked across the first set of tracks, but both decided they would not cross the second set of tracks.\u00a0 Buttermilk put her head down to pitch, but Ken kept such a tight rein that she could only try.\u00a0 Little Britches tried his best to unseat the preacher, but his shod feet could not get traction on the pavement.\u00a0 The announcer went into \u201crodeo mode,\u201d and had a field day announcing the action.\u00a0 The crowd loved it and applauded the cowboy\u2019s efforts to control their horses.\u00a0 The stage coach and youth group were already a block away totally unaware of any problem.\u00a0 Luckily, a fellow from the riding group behind them came up and led the horses across the tracks.<\/p>\n
The next week they were entered in a larger parade in Harlingen.\u00a0 Ken decided he would ride his own horse.\u00a0 To play it safe, he rode Little Britches along the route early in the week.\u00a0 There was a bridge over a canal.\u00a0 This spooked the horse because of the hollow sound.\u00a0 They eased across, and no dragons came out from under the bridge, so they went over the bridge several times.\u00a0 All went well, but Ken decided two parades was enough.<\/p>\n
Some of the neighbors had horses.\u00a0 There were afternoon and Saturday rides.\u00a0 Butch would sometimes follow along.\u00a0 He was more apt to start out and then turn back when he grew tired or bored.<\/p>\n
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When I self -published the children’s book, “Butch the One of a Kind Dog,” this story was included in the blog on the book’s web site. When I started “Loose Strings From The Past,” the Butch blog was incorporated into the new site. This is one of the stories that never made it to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[215,214],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1955-to-1972","tag-horses-and-parades","tag-horses-are-giants-to-a-small-dog"],"yoast_head":"\n