Return to Mitch-Joe&VinneyRun-away Daughter
In the early 1950's Dad had a bay workhorse named Queen who was about 25 years old; Dad had turned her teammate to pasture because of aging. Queen then started to work with a horse that I hadn't noticed before, but Dad called her Cate and told me that she was a foal from Queen herself. I told Mom I didn't remember any ponies on the farm, but she pointed out that Cate was probably as old as I was.
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This penchant of some animals to become squatters in the field authored a brief but exciting episode.
In one of my final grade school summers, Dad was proceeding with mowing of alfalfa; and on one particular day he was mowing the third field. The second field had been cut, dried, and wind-rowed and Mom and I and one of my sisters were building shocks from the wind-rows. My memory fails, but I think Barbara or Shirley was the third person. We were shocking near the west end of the field not far from the field that Dad was mowing.
The mower with Dad had traversed more than half the length of the field when I saw Cate collapse in the harness. I thought she had broken her leg, which I knew would mean her death – that was kind of gut-clutching. The three of us arrived within about 30 yards of the mower; Dad had dismounted and I could practically see the corona discharge coming from the top of his head.
Dad eased around Queen's side on the left; Queen was standing there panting after such a wild ride with her daughter. He surveyed Cate and saw that she had her huge rear quarter resting on the wooden tongue of the mower. He must have decided that she didn't seem to be in pain because he took the bridle near the bit, and urged her to arise. Cate complied shortly and there between the two horses lay the splintered wooden tongue – no more mowing with this until repair. Dad unhitched the traces and walked the team back home and I cannot remember if the three of us shocked hay the rest of the day. Later on, I asked about the immediate cause and was told that the pheasant had flushed when Cate was nearly on top of it, flown directly in front of her face.
Anyway, Cate was not calm when unpleasant surprises occurred.