Horse Story

Circa Broken-Window Days

Couldn't help but steal this from my brother's Facebook wall this morning.  I told him it needed to go into the Smithsonian in its "rare" photos collection.

Not because of the broken barn windows.  Not because it looks like Tiny's a pinto with that white splotch on her chest.  

That was probably a photo processing malfunction because I'm guessing this photo was printed in my darkroom out in the old bunkhouse on Great Northern Road.

A lot of the photos printed in my darkroom had some rather scary features cuz the place wasn't exactly spit-shined, and I'd find occasional mouse droppings on the easel when I'd go out to print pictures

The darkroom also served as a pantry of sorts, storage for a whole lot of junk and a great place for mice to chew up pieces of papers into a million tiny bits.  

So, the prospects of having photos without water spots or scratches or blotches, etc. were rare indeed.

What is rare about this photo is seeing my brother Mike near a horse, let alone ON a horse. If it weren't for this photo, I would never have believed this sight.  I think it must have been so unusual that my memory went blank that day. 

Anyway, yes, that's Mike on Tonka, Marianne on Tiny and Laurie on Annie (?) horse.  Gotta call her Annie horse cuz at one time the family had Annie Dog, Annie Horse and Annie Love. 

The photo is taken in front of our wonderful old barn on Great Northern Road.  Must've been pre-window replacement days.  When we moved in, the Crape boys had hit their target with virtually every rock aimed toward the windows.

One by one, we replaced them and the roof.  We also completely repainted the barn from top to bottom one year.  It was looking pretty nice when we left the place, but the old building, where my dad left a note in 1946, is looking a little sad these days.  

I wish someone would buy it and restore it cuz those old barns are disappearing all too quickly.

All of the horses in the photo have gone on to greener pastures.  All have great stories to go with them.  Tonka aka Pend Oreille Tonkawa came to our family from the Hawkins family.  

Dal Hawkins rode her to every mountaintop in North Idaho, and we used to love to see the big wall photo of Tonka near a mountain lake whenever we'd go to North Idaho's first McDonald's in Coeur d'Alene.

I'm guessing that was from Will Hawkins' photo collection.  Will was Dal's son. 

After Tonka came to our place, my youngest brother Jim took her over and rode and showed her as his 4-H project.  She was a good ol' gal, even if she didn't have the best eyesight around.

Tiny, in the middle, was my first horse AND the 4-H project and babysitter to several other youngsters.  Tiny wasn't the most ambitious horse in the world but she was good as gold in the "bomb proof" department.  

And, Annie (if I'm correct that it's Annie) was the sweetest, prettiest little mare.  Willie rode her at the horse shows, and lots of other kids and novice riders got to know Annie. She was a sweetheart. 

Yup, this picture takes me back, except for more facts dealing with the day that brother Mike actually climbed aboard a horse.  It also demonstrates that some of us had more hair in those days and some of us just had "bad hair" days, while some were smart enough to wear hats. 

His attitude toward horses took a bad turn when he fell off from Tony, the pony, and broke his arm when he was about 8.  Not a good way to build confidence in the fact that they are lovely animals. 

It's always fun to take those steps back to the good ol' days and to remember those wonderful horses who played such vital and beloved roles in the ongoing family horse saga. 

Happy Monday.