People, Ponies, & Places Plus a Pup

Second Post of the Day

(How's that title for an alliteration! Proud as punch of myself this morning! Haha!)

My sister Leslie sends out a daily family photo to our sibling email group, something Steve, Jenny, and I all look forward to.

I'd never before seen this photo of my very first horse, Amy, with Leslie.

Taken at Leslie's farm in Brookston in 1993, it was the last photo taken of Amy as she died several days later. Still beautiful despite the grizzled face at 28!

Me with my penpal, Sue Seese, in 1976 at Prophet's Rock. She'd flown out to visit me, just as I'd flown out to California to visit her the previous summer. 

If you were in the hobby in the early 1970s, Sue's name might be familiar to you as she was a first generation hobbyist along with me and Beth Dickinson, the other penpal in our trio of friends. Beth is still active in the hobby, live shows in Region 10, and attends BreyerFest every summer.

The photos Leslie sends us each day run the gamut as she digitizes and discovers people, ponies, and places from our past. 

Another fun one was our Honeywell grandparents, Earl and Georgia (he called her "Georgie") on their first date in 1924. 

Early in her career as a historian/anthropologist, Leslie traveled and presented at various conferences around the country. Sometimes she shares pictures from those events.

Several times she was asked to present about Annie Oakley, 

and was lucky enough to be allowed to handle some of Annie's own artifacts when she did.

One time she was doing a mini museum about Annie Oakley at the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, and was loaned many of Annie's things by the Annie Oakley Foundation. Les had then asked if I would loan her some of my model horses for the mini museum, so I can proudly brag crow say that my ponies sat side by side with Annie's things!

Wondering how Miss Rosie is doing as she settles into her second week with us?

She is absolutely devoted to Nash and he is very tolerant of her puppy-like antics. (Lisa was told that it was thought that she was two, but we think that she is much younger than that.) He is delighted to have companionship and a playmate and at the end of the day, they both sleep hard. (Um, so does Lisa if you catch my drift.)

Rosie is learning to walk on a leash, to tell Lisa when she needs to go outside, and to respect boundaries. She's come a long way in all of those areas, and is a sweet and friendly girl who just loves everyone and hopes you love her right back. (We do.)

"Hey, Pepper! Why are you under the table? Can I join you? Can I play with your toy? Do you wanna be best friends? I love you so much! Can you scoot over and give me a little more room?" 

Snugglesnugglesnugglesnuggle. (I see some Dogs of Our Lives posts comin' on!)

We have yet to hear her bark. Not once. A play growl once that was more like a squeak but that's it. Even when Nash and Tammo are protecting the homestead, and she's right there beside them and in the thick of their commotion, she hasn't uttered a peep.

I looked up the traits of Shar-Peis and apparently they do not bark much. Not a bad thing, not at all, but it has surprised us. 

She's fitting right in, and clearly making herself at home (the foot sticking out is Lisa's) and we are happy to have her with us. 

Off to go work on the quiet book. I'm working on the very last page and I should be able to finish today! Of course, then I have to make the cover...

Stay 'tooned!

From Penpal to Life Long Friend

As a result of my love for horses, I have made many life long friends.  My penpal, Susan Jensen, is one of them. She found my name in the penpal section of Horse and Rider magazine and sent me a letter introducing herself in 1970. We were both twelve and have been writing ever since.

Letters from the mid 1970s, two with my old college dorm address!

Sue and me goofing around at Universal Studios in 1975. (Okay, so I am the goof; Sue's acting respectably.)

Sue with her niece and sister in 2018.

We have been through a lot together - Sue lost a husband to an aggressive brain tumor and is currently battling breast cancer. I have had a host of surgeries including my most recent pancreatic surgery. We've buried parents and other loved ones, raised families, and through it all...

... the letters keep coming.

Sue was very active in the early days of the model horse hobby but showing her real horses eventually took precedent. In the late 1980s she gifted me with her three favorite models:

 Tico,

 On the Run,

 and Apache Dancer.

All of them bear tags with their "Sue names" and a note that they came from her.

 Knowing my love of Star Trek, she also once gave me a very special gift.

William Shatner's book, Tek Lab, autographed by Shatner himself!

Sue used to keep her horses in the same barn as Bill did, and they became good friends. So, when his third science fiction book came out, she asked him to autograph it for me. Now that's a good friend!

Sue and I will celebrate having been friends and penpals for 50 years in 2020. I am looking for ideas as to how to celebrate that with her. Not many people can say that they have had a penpal (and dear friend) for that long!

"Let's Keep This Rolling!"

I was an avid reader of Horse and Rider magazine for many years, from high school and on into adulthood. A lot of my early knowledge about horses and horsemanship came from that magazine.

In the late 1960s/early 1970s, the magazine carried a column for pen pals. You could send Horse and Rider your name and address and request that it be added to the numerous others in the column, most of whom were young girls like me looking to find like-minded friends.

My address appeared twice, and at one point, I had around 100 people with whom I was regularly corresponding! Two of them became life long friends, Sue Seese and Beth Dickinson. Both were part of the early days of the model horse hobby, and Beth is still very active in it. Sue moved on to high end quarter horses and showed on the Quarter Horse circuit. I am still in touch with both women.

Shortly after we began writing to each other, Sue and I got our first horses.

  Sue and Stormy, Reseda, California, 1972.

Amy and me, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1972.

Sue's mare, Stormy, had a lot of Thoroughbred in her - perfect for Sue who loved the breed. She also founded a hobby club and registry for model Thoroughbreds that ran for many years.

Stormy and her filly, Stormy's Santana.

Our letters flew back and forth, with a letter being received in the afternoon mail, responded to that evening, and then mailed out the next morning. We knew when to expect each other's letters, and it was a real thrill to see Sue's distinctive handwriting when I opened the mailbox after I got off the school bus.

Sue and I became best friends despite the distance between us. After nearly five years of weekly letters, our parents allowed us to get together. I flew out to California in June after I graduated from high school.

Sue and me at the Jaws exhibit at Universal Studios, 1975.

There was no awkwardness between us when we first met face to face. After all, we knew each other so well from the hundreds of letters that we had mailed each other!

Sue made arrangements for us to ride while I was there, borrowing horses for me to use. One of them had been owned by Bob Denver, the actor who played Gilligan on the popular TV show, Gilligan's Island. That was a big thrill for me - I mean, how many people can say that they rode Gilligan's horse? I can!

We also competed in a horse show during my visit, with me riding another borrowed horse. I took home a ribbon which still hangs here in my office where I can see it.

Sue and I each went off to college, got married, and she went right into the work force upon college graduation while I started raising my big family. Through the years we continued to correspond, although the letters slowed down to just a couple of times a year due to the busy-ness of our lives.

Adulthood for both of us had its ups and downs, but Sue really took some hard knocks - her husband died of brain cancer and then, after remarrying many years later, she developed breast cancer.

And through it all, the letters continued.

I got one from her in the mail yesterday.

Typical Sue, it was a three pager, single spaced!

I waited until I had a quiet moment to read it, wondering especially about her cancer treatment and if things were still going as well as they had been at Christmas. To my delight, she is healthy and nearing the end of two long years of treatment. Yay, Sue!

Sue (middle) with her niece (left) and sister (right) last Christmas.

Sue's words at the end of the letter were touching. Referring to the fact that I was now retired and had more time to write her, she said, "Let's keep this rolling," referring to the more frequent correspondence that we had begun again and which was so, so similar to our teen years when the letters came weekly.

There is a real joy in a long term friendship, a friendship with someone who has known you even longer than your husband. We've been friends since 1971, just shy of fifty years.

You can bet that I am going to "keep this rolling!"