LOA Story #2: MY DREAM HORSES and Red Cloud 6 comments

Saturday, September 30th 2006, by Brenda McCann When I was 7 and in the 2nd grade they all thought I talked too much. I was always telling others about my dreams and they were tired of hearing them I guess. I used to love to dream about my horses... I had horses of all colors and a ranch with grassy hills. And All my horses were named... My own mother was so exasperated at my imaginary horses she forbade me to talk anymore about them and she made me sit down and write & illustrate little books about "MY HORSES" instead. That was fine with me because I loved to write and draw. IT kept me occupied for hours day after day in the second grade. One of my horses was the most smashing! His name was Red Cloud and he ran free as the wind and whinnied at me as if to say "COME HERE AND RIDE ME. LETS RUN!!" So I would get up and go outside and just run around with Red Cloud. That summer I got to go to my maternal grandfather's Dude Ranch in North Piney, WY. My gramps taught me to ride and he 'let me' work all summer on gentling down his corral full of 2 year old colts. Gramps did not believe in touching a mountain horse until they were at least 2 years old so they were all really just wild horses till they met me. LOL I LOVED THOSE HORSES with every fiber of my being and I would sit and name them and love them, feed and water them until one by one they loved me back and would come up to me and let me curry them. Gramps said that when I could get a halter on one of them then he would see to it that I got my own horse to have and ride at home in Idaho. Well it took 3 summers but I got it all going finally so that I could get a halter on and off of each colt in the corral and they were a new crop of colts each year. That was the summer of my 4th grade year. When I got home from Grampa's ranch that year my parents said they had a surprise for me. We had to drive to the Lewiston orchards turning here and there til we came to a stop. There standing in a corral was a 6 month old stud colt. Bright Red with a white cloud in the center of his wide set eyes. He was half Thoroughbred and 1/2 Arab. JUST LIKE MY DREAM HORSE RED CLOUD! Just exactly as he appeared on the cover of MY DREAM HORSES BOOK! I looked at the stud colt and I said, "Red Cloud?" He nickered and walked over to me and put his nuzzel in my arms. The man who owned him said, "I think they will get along just fine." And with that we were off to haul Red Cloud home. I turned to my parents and said, "BUT WHERE WILL WE KEEP HIM? WE LIVE IN A TOWN!" My parents smiled and said, "There's more to this surprise darling." I was ecstatic to see the rest of the surprise. The man who sold Red Cloud to us for $60 also had a horse trailer to haul him to where we were to keep him. He followed my parents in our car as we drove down towards the town of Lewiston, Idaho, where I lived but... they took a right turn at the bottom of the 21st Street hill and continued out into East Lewiston. On and on they drove, out past the mill even, before they finally turned into a driveway where stood a cute little white house with big trees around it. "This is our new home, darling." My mother said. "Grampa bought it for us all so you could have a place to keep and ride Red Cloud." I was amazed!! and Delirious!! There was a house with a driveway into an open garage & tool shop and beyond that a cute little 2 horse barn in a single acre paddock with a gate on the outside of it leading to a beautiful 10 acre pasture!!! The pasture even looked interesting because it had hills and a valley, a spring and 2 old brick ruins on it. I found out later that it used to be Lewiston's first brick factory back in the late 1800's and early 1900's but they did not use it now and the estate leased it to my parents for my very own horse pasture!! I led Red Cloud into his barn and walked him all around the wire fence and told him all about the fence so he would not get cut. I can't remember how many days and nights I spent with Red Cloud after that until he grew up enough 4 me to ride. Yes I would go out and sleep with him at night too. By the time Red Cloud was 2 years old I already taught him how to get down on one knee or lay clear down to let me on. I could ride him without a bridal or a saddle (just like in my dream horses books) within the 10 acre pasture that is. We had a ball!! When he lay down to let me on and then lurched to get up with me aboard, he would always squeel and take off at the gallop, and kick up his heels just once as if to say, "WHEEEE!! Hold on, Here we go now! Let's RUN!!"

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