Memoirs of My Life

By Laurie Dempsey

Legend is a difficult Morgan who has a way of looking at things different from most horses and is not always eager to please but eager to do well in what he does. He decides to love his owner and devotedly works for what she wants to accomplish. This story is from the voice and viewpoint of a Morgan horse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781546201403

Book preview

Chapter 1

LEAVE ME ALONE

During my first eight years of life I wasn’t given the understanding to help people out so I did everything I could to be nasty to them. I used to kick and bite because I just wanted to be left alone. I thought it was funny when people ran away from me! (HA, HA) My mother always told me that it was wrong for me to do it, but I couldn’t stand it when people were around me. She said that I came from a family of good Morgan horses and I needed to uphold the tradition. I asked her if it was tradition for our family to be treated the way I was being treated. She did not have an answer for me. All that I knew is that my teeth hurt me and I had trouble eating the little bit of food I was given. A horrible piece of metal was put in my mouth whenever one of those humans would get on me and they would pull on my mouth, OUCH! I was never given a reason to love a person and I had no reason to be lovable. Everybody in the barn was scared of me (HA, HA!) and I preferred it that way so I kept my ears pinned down constantly. None of the people were any fun at all, so why bother with them?

Everything was scary to me and nobody was there to tell me it was okay. I made sure that I would bite, kick, charge and strike whenever the opportunity came. If someone rode me all it brought was pain. They wanted to make me raise my knees as high as I could and I just hated that. That metal was really nasty and they made sure that it would hurt a lot and then they would pull on me. My neck had to be cranked up and my back was always hollow (it hurt). For many years I could have a fun time with a mare and suddenly that changed. My whole life became different and I didn’t like it at all.

The mares no longer came, but I still wanted them. Then this little person bought me and my life changed. I don’t know why she bought me, I tried every trick in the book so that she wouldn’t like me. I didn’t need a person or a horse (unless she was a mare) in my life. I just wanted to be left alone.

I thought that I was rid of her for sure when she left the first time (especially after all of the things that I did wrong) and I could go back to my normal life again. I really tried to get rid of her by kicking at her, biting, not moving when she asked me to go while she was up on my back, kicking out with my hind feet when she asked me to go, bucking, you know just being a really nasty, difficult horse. I even made sure I gave her dark, ugly looks with my ears pinned back. I wanted to make sure that she knew I was no one to be messed with and I wasn’t interested in learning about anything. Basically I told her to kiss off. I couldn’t believe it when she came back for me the next week and my people said that I belonged to her now! Just after I had them trained the way I wanted! Now I was going to have to make another person afraid of me so that she would leave me alone! She brought all of this fancy stuff with her. She spent forever trying to put these pillows and bandages around my legs. I kicked and danced around while she tried to make me into one of those mummies I heard the kids read about in the barn. What if she wrapped me all up and put me in a triangle? She could wrap my mouth up and nobody would ever be able to find me! Obviously I had to fight these mummy wraps in every way that I could. My old people just stood around and shook their heads. So much for any help from them! I knew I could not trust people! Then another person stepped in and held up one of my front feet. I fought and fought, but she held on tight and I was mummified from my knees on down! It was horrible! My old people never did anything this bad to me before.

I knew I was done in and that I would not get any help from the people at that place so I walked right up into the trailer. I just knew that she would come and finish making me a mummy so I decided to finish the fight when there were less of those humans around.

The ride seemed like it would never end and I was in a nervous sweat by the time the trailer stopped moving for good. I could feel the bandage around my mouth as if it was really there. Then the door began to open and before I knew what was happening I was off of the trailer. I stood there as an alien in a strange New World. No wonder the trailer ride took so long! I completely forgot about the fight that I spent the entire trailer ride planning. There were too many things to look at and I did not have anyone to protect me. My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head! My heart felt as if it was going to pop out of my skin!

Then I saw them. I was being made to walk toward them. I knew that they would eat me. Some of them were huge monsters reaching for the sky and they had colors on them that I never saw before. They had mouths and I knew the worst was going to happen. I was going to be eaten alive. I began to shake. I never shook like that before. I was so scared I had to poop. My new person kept saying, They are only jumps. They are not going to hurt you. I knew better than to believe her. I knew the jump monsters were going to eat me. I don’t know how I made it through that field alive.

My new person brought me to another field and made me walk around it with her. Then I saw IT. I knew IT was going to get me. IT had two faces and no legs. IT was really going to get me. I thought the jump monsters were bad, but this was ten times worse. I shook so hard I wasn’t sure if I was shaking or the ground underneath of me. My new person said, It is only a water trough. It is not going to hurt you. I knew better than to believe her. A horse should never trust people.

She closed the gate and let me loose in that field that we walked around together. I was loose in the field with the giant trough monster. I just had to get out of that field before it got me. So I went to the nearest spot in the fence to break my way through when something stung me on the nose. Oh it was horrible! I went away and tried another spot and I got stung again! THE FENCE WAS ATTACKING ME! AHHHHHH! My new person told me that it was electric and not to touch, but I squealed with anger and worry and tried again and again and again. I stopped when my nose started to hurt. Then, I saw THEM. There were two more horses over in another field. Maybe they would know how to escape the jump monsters and the trough monster. As I came closer, I realized that the one had a beautiful fragrance around her. I forgot everything else when I saw that she was beautiful. Her color was perfect and she blinked her beautiful eyes at me. She took my breath away. I just loved the way her forelock fell over her eyes and she told me I was handsome! I began to talk with her and was just starting to get someplace when that other guy came around.

He was tall. They think they can just have all of the mares because they have longer legs. I told him what I thought of him right off. I got stung on the nose again as I tried to go over the gate, but this time I did not care. I squealed and kicked as hard as I could to show him what I could do. He kicked back and hit the gate.

He brought the gate down. That was the only good thing I could say for him. All of a sudden, there were people all around and we were separated. I was furious. To this day I know I could have taken that guy. I still remember my dear love’s big brown eyes. Oh just a few more minutes and we could have belonged together! I could tell that the people were a bit upset, but I didn’t care. I wanted them to learn early just who was boss. I just hoped they would keep those monsters away from me.

I made it through that first night without being eaten and no one came to make me into a mummy again. (WHEW, was I relieved!) She came as I was getting my first look around the place (they put me in a different field after my love and I met). I guess I kind of liked my run-in shelter, at least I did not have to share it with another horse. After yesterday I don’t think I would have the energy to put the other horse in his place. She was coming toward me with a bucket and some hay. I ate without a second thought although the hay could have used more alfalfa. I love alfalfa. The world I came from used to have alfalfa and this hay didn’t have enough of it. Sadly, Alfalfa leafs evident but not apparent enough in my hay. What to do?

They gave me my very own field. It was okay. It could have had more grass, but there are worse things in life I suppose. At least it was my field. Then, one day a person (somebody I hadn’t ever met before) brought this really huge horse into my field. The nerve of those two! They actually thought that my field was a road, a place where anyone could go! I decided to show them what I thought about that! I was grazing over on the far side of the field when they entered and I raced over to them so quickly they didn’t know what happened! That huge horse thought he was tough just because he was tall! He thought I was some little horse that he wouldn’t have to worry about (he might have even have thought I was a pony, humph), but I fooled him! They raced out of my field quicker than I thought a large horse being led by an individual could travel! The people didn’t like that very much. They kept saying it didn’t make sense since I was a gelding. Incidently, who said I was a gelding? I surely didn’t. I really don’t wish to admit the circumstances occurring causing the event so pretending it didn’t occur is sometimes easier on my ego. To keep their horses safe they moved me to the far end of the farm. They were playing right into my hooves. All I wanted was to be left alone. Company of any kind disrupts my meditation and causes me to be increasingly ill tempered.

Chapter 2

THE NASTY PEOPLE AND WHAT I DID TO THEM…

Well, my little person was kind of funny, but I don’t think she really liked me. She made sure that all of these nasty people came and did cruel things to me. Some guy came and put this long file in my mouth and started to rasp my teeth away (called it floating and told me that it would help me). I showed him what I thought about that! For some reason he was irritated with me when I sat down while he was trying to work. The wall that my butt was against even creaked. The man muttered underneath his breath and his face became really red! When that happened I knew I was pushing the right buttons! The nerve of that man to try and file away my teeth!

This other person came and started to stick me with these really big mosquitoes (she called them vaccinations). The veterinarian person told my person that she didn’t think that I would be able to do the things that my person wanted me to be able to do. She probed me all over the place and put this silver thing that was connected to her ears on my body. Boy did she look silly! She even took some of my poop. (I’ll be happy to give her all that she wants of my poop, I even made sure I gave her some stinky air.) That woman said that I was infested with parasites. She called them Large Strongyles, I think.

I don’t know what all of that meant, but I was sure she was being rude. She even put this nasty substance inside my mouth that just tasted awful (she called it worming).

After all of that happened I made sure that I showed the little person what I thought of her. (I have to admit I would have done the same things to her even if she didn’t have those people come to torment me!) I charged at her when she came to feed me. I made sure that I would kick sideways (she called it cow kicking) every time she would try to rub that hairy thing (she called it a brush) all over me. I made sure that she wouldn’t have an easy task if she tried to clean my feet. I just hated to have my feet picked up! I did much more to her than what I just told you and the more I did the more determined she became to make me a good horse. However, she did tell me I could pack my bags and go down the road a few times (whatever that meant)! She asked me to do so many stupid things and I just wanted to be left alone! Let me give you some examples. She wanted me to allow her to catch me, tie up between two ropes in the isle (silliest thing you ever want to have happen to you, of course I had to break loose) and tie up to a wall (boy, is that boring of course I had to break loose). I had to go around in a circle on a long rope, walk when she said walk, trot when she said trot, stand without letting my hind feet go way out behind me (Duh … that is the way a Morgan is supposed to stand), oh and I could go on. See what I mean?

I enjoyed torturing her. She gave me a fifty-pound salt block. I never had one of those before! It was fun dragging it out of my run-shelter and seeing her reaction. She couldn’t believe that I could get it out of that place. It was fun taking the salt block out when it was really muddy outside and seeing how she would go after it. She would actually drag it back into the run in shelter. My little person ended up getting all muddy too! It was especially funny when her boots would come off and stay in the mud! HA, HA, HA! It was so great to do that to her!

It happened again. It became a regular routine. About 30 feet outside of my run-in shelter past the eight inch lip of the run-in shelter, past the stones, past the knee deep mud, past the sand trap sat the fifty pound salt block in a flat black bucket in a still water puddle. Every morning she would come to feed me and my main occupation was finding a way to annoy her so greatly that she would sell me to someone who would let me run with the mares again. She really annoyed me so I needed to annoy her. It sat there alluring in its annoyance, the mud drying on my knees, as I stood back to watch the enfolding scene take place, hopeful my accomplishment would bring my desire.

I had to laugh – I even had to blow my nostrils out to catch my breath with the next question. She asked me, why do I drag my salt block out of my run-in shelter? I had to be honest when I answered that question, but I had a good full belly laugh before I did. Of course, it was because of her reaction! At first it was to make her mad, but now it was just for my own amusement! It gave me something to do with my day. You know, a horse’s life can be boring, especially when you have a brain as brilliant as mine. From what you can gather I did not actually verbalize or use telepathy to communicate to her what my desire was, but I decided she was pretty dense because she kept dragging the 50 pound salt block back to the run-in shelter every morning instead of selling me.

Later in the day, I was pretty happy contemplating my strategy to get sold. Sometimes I would get a headache and just didn’t feel that well. Sometimes she just gets too serious about wanting to improve. I want to help her improve; I like what we are doing together. These were just not my thoughts at all. I prefer mud all over me and what if my tail is knotted? She actually had the audacity to brush me. I just had to figure a way out of this horrid situation.

Nothing would bother her quite as much as when I wouldn’t let her catch me! It was so much fun to let her come - oh so close - and then gallop away to the other side of the field. She would get so upset! If I played my cards just right, I knew she would go back and leave me alone. I tried