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I guess I must have
gotten started in this whole "horse
business" accidentally.
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| I am a very avid bird hunter
and I have been competing with
English Pointers on the American
Field Trial circuit for the last
forty odd years. I have always
enjoyed riding horses but I saw them
more as a means to an end, as a mode
of transportation to watch my dogs
run. |
David O'Connor and
Champion BLACK RAIN |
|
When my youngest two
daughters, Raegan and Lindsay, were born,
that all swiftly came to an end. My girls,
from their earliest years, were interested
in going hunting with Daddy.
Lindsay on Chico and Raegan on
Favorite Champagne |
It was not until much
later, that I learned that their interest
stemmed mostly from their intense desire to
be around the horses that they loved so
much.
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| My daughter, Raegan, began
asking for a horse not much after
she learned to walk. We waited till
she was a little older and then gave
her a black and white Shetland pony
for her fifth birthday. |
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|
Within days my youngest,
Lindsay, had talked me into another pony.
She was three, and the pony was a Welsh. It
did not take us long to realize that
'smaller' did not equal 'safer'.
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| One day while watching both
of my daughters bounce around on
their ponies, I had a thought, maybe
they would do better on one of my
Walking Horses'?
To my surprise and delight,
these large animals were wonderfully
gentle with my two small girls.
|
Lindsay on Billy |
|
From that day on they
would have nothing else to do with their
ponies. The days of ponies, and even small
walkers, are long passed but the impression
will remain forever.
|
 |
Lindsay with new
foal (left), and with Playboy's
Champagne (above). |
|
However, our family is
still very much involved in running and
hunting bird dogs. Running our dogs has
taken us all over the North, the Midwest and
the Southern part of the country. It is
what we do as a family. When the girls were
young, they both were involved in running
and showing their own puppies from
horseback, and they would win!!!
Unfortunately the heat in Texas does not
allow for year round riding or hunting. The
spring and summer months
are extremely hot and muggy. Fortunately
that is exactly when foaling season starts
on Magnolia Farm. From the time the foals
hit the ground they are given attention and
they quickly learn to look for the treat
that the girls have for them.
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|
Raegan on Playboy's Champagne |
Reagan on Rock With Pride |
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A new addition has just
recently been made to our family. My
daughter, Raegan, just married a young man
who was raised in a family with interests
very akin to our own. Her husband's name is
also Reagan, although he spells it a little
differently. My new son-in-law comes from a
family from
South Carolina. His father also raises
Tennessee Walking Horses and English Setters
for bird hunting.
The two Raegans took a
little getting accustomed to. Luckily, they
are a great team; he is very good with the
horses, and my daughter.
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