Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine May 2021 Vol 6 Issue 2

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

The Horse Next Door by Vicki McCarty

I’ve always had a deep love for animals and the desire to take care of them. Therefore, when I saw the “new” horse next door watching me feed our own horses, I had to take him a handful of grain. As I approached him, he got that yearning and “can this really be happening” look in his eyes. He gratefully accepted my gift. And just like

that, a six-year love relationship began with the horse next door. It wasn’t long before Ole Horse was at the fence watching for me daily. We provided him with his own tub for some grain twice a day. I would climb through the fence and brush him, talking to him while he ate. He would show me his appreciation by pushing his nose into my belly and almost lift me off my feet.

If it was feeding time and I didn’t see him at the fence line I’d raise my voice and call him. The wind would pick up the sound of my voice and carry it to wherever he was in the 20 acres next door. He would come galloping, mane flying to get his feed and receive his daily loving from me. Yes, eventually his owner saw what was going on. “You’re

going to spoil my horse” he told my husband and I.

in the shade and minus 10 with numb feet but we never left his side until he was done. He took his sweet time too, knowing the cows wouldn’t bother him as long as we stood there. I also befriended the same neighbor’s bull. I fed him apples over the fence. He was like a big puppy dog, wiggling and eager for those apples. One evening Ed said “Stop feeding that bull! That’s enough apples!” The old bull looked at Ed, threw back his head and roared as loud as he could. Needless to say, he got one more apple. By making friends with the bull, there were times he did me a favor and took his girls over the ridge so Ole Horse could eat in peace. I knew what I was doing. I think Ole Horse had nine lives like a cat. He sliced his ankle severely once and Ed doctored it. Another time, he fell under our pole barn along the fence and got cut up trying to get out.

Ed doctored him then also.

But the time that stands out most in my mind was the day we believe he got heat stroke. Ed called me at work and warned me because he knew I would see Ole Horse down when I drove by coming home. He said “It’s not good. He may not make it”. Sure enough, when I came by, I saw him lying near the fence with Ed and several others standing over him. He had fallen on the steep grade near the fence line and landed with his head pointing downhill and his head and neck over a very hot wire. Fighting back tears, I went on up to the house. Not knowing what to do with myself, I went out by the fence staring toward where Ole Horse would come running for his dinner. Then, what! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Ole Horse was

I said, “That’s okay, he deserves some spoiling!”

Actually, he was thrilled at our attention to his horse. Ole Horse wasn’t actually his but his father’s. When his father passed, he brought him home and put him out with to wander with the cows. He was a cow man, not a horse person. Ed and I asked him the horse’s name. He looked at us surprised. “You call him by his name. Its Old Horse!” The years passed by and despite us feeding him, Ole Horse was losing some weight. We put him on senior feed and soaked beet pulp. Of course, the cows had a great interest in his food, so no matter what the weather was, either Ed or I would stand with him fending off cows until he was through eating. I remember days of 110

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