Paint: The Wonder Horse

Mom and Paint

We heard lots of stories about Paint when I was growing up. My Mom loved this horse. She said when one of their mares was pregnant her Dad said "...now when that colt is born he'll be yours." Mom said she couldn't wait 'til the day came when he was born. She was there in the middle of the night and took care of him from the beginning. They grew up together and were quite a pair. I can't remember how old Mom said she was the day Paint was born. Mom rode Paint to school every day and tied him up outside while she was in class. It was a country school in a small Texas hill country town with combined grades. Their land bordered the Johnson ranch, and one of her brothers was LBJs best friend growing up.

Mom told us one day after school she was riding home and when she leaned to open the gate to their ranch, the saddle flipped to the side. Mom held on but when the saddle fell under Paints belly, she had to let go. Paint went running home without her. She dusted herself off and walked home. Mom had forgotten to tighten Paints' girth after she got out of school. She said her Dad was so worried when Paint came running in because he knew what a good rider she was. Then he saw the saddle under Paint and he knew what had happened.

Mom had baby lambs, goats, calves and her dog named Ring. She was great with animals and loved them all. She said the little Banty roosters were the most fun to watch, prancing around. Her favorite was her pet squirrel. Mom found it when it was a baby and fed it with an eye dropper to keep it alive. She said it didn't have any fur on it at all when she found it. It was so tame it would stay in her pocket and then on her shoulder when it got bigger. It played and lived in the orchard they called the North 40 while Mom was at school. Her brothers were hunting one day and Moms' brothers friend shot it without knowing it was hers. Mom was devastated when she saw what was happening. She tried to stop them ran after them, and screamed at them. Her brother yelled, "No..it's my sisters!" It was too late. She said they were so mean they skinned it, cooked it and ate it in front of her.

I know it was hard for Mom growing up with five older brothers. They teased her and played tricks on her all the time. Her mother died when she was only fifteen and she had already lost two older sisters. The only woman in a ranch home with six big German men. She learned to be a strong and independent young woman who had to think for herself. She learned how to Hold Her Space early on. I don't know how she turned out to be so elegant and feminine without any older women around to guide her. She just was.

Mom left school after her mother died to help her Dad with the duties of the ranch and home. These days she wouldn't have had to make that choice at just 15. They already had a family who lived in a house on the ranch to help run it and hired help in the home. Maybe Mom was grief stricken to lose her Mother and didn't want to go back to school. It was expected back then for the woman to take up the slack and I always thought she wanted to help her Dad. The boys didn't help much, they played and just made more work for her. Turned out Mom was the only loyal and responsible one out of all but one of them. No matter how rough things seemed, Mom always had Paint the Wonder Horse to ride off on for an escape and to make life a little easier.

I do know she was the apple of her Dads' eye. He loved and appreciated her hard work, dedication and her kind and gentle spirit. Her Dad would tell Mom "If you want, I'll get you the moon and a star to go with it". They owned the first car in the town, so her Dad had means. He gave her a beautiful wedding when she later married my Dad. Her elegant dress was selected by Mom, designed and came all the way from New York City. Not bad for a small town Texas girl.

Today, I have those boots she's wearing in the picture with Paint, some big shoes to fill.