Three in one

I received an email recently from this Paint Horse owner whose stallion has quite a variety of markings, all on one side! This is Dee Otoe Reed (catch the musical reference? "The oboe reed?"), a 1990 chestnut overo stallion registered to Jill (Cochran) Hall but belongs to her daughter Dannie, who lives in Redkey, Indiana.

Jill writes, "The first image that takes form looks like a wizard with his wand pointing down. The second, very prominent image is the Texas longhorn, and the third image on his hip my daughter says looks like the state of Indiana with a very long toe."

Why I love Paint Horses

I received a touching letter the other day among a stack of Paint Markings photos, and it reminds me of why I love Paint Horses so much—their intelligence and versatility. What's even more awesome is the gentleman who sent it lives in Germany, but his description and photos make me think of the idyllic cowboys in Western movies that I watched as a kid. While the photo still needs to be scanned, I'll go ahead and post the correspondence for you to enjoy.

Dear Editors of Connection,

When I saw in your magazine the Texas mark of DW Poco Cash, I thought I could deliver you a second Texas mark from Germany. Next I will tell you my 'Texas' ' story:

The first foal out of [Doughboys Nina] was born on July 5, 2006, on a lovely meadow in the morning. Immediately when the foal was born, I recognized the white mark on his left side, and I saw that it strongly resembled the American state of Texas. So the little boy got his name—Little Bigs Texas.

Texas' mother, [a descendant] out of Colonel Freckles and Pawnee Eagle, was used by me as the perfect cowhorse (including cutting, roping, etc.) for an environmental 150 acres ranch, grazed with 50 Galloway cows, the whole year free living. This mare became a part of my body when I was working my cows. She could read my body language perfect when I asked her to do this or that maneuver on the cows. 'Nina' was not used as a hobby horse; her man thing was to do cattle work for me, and she enjoyed this job so very much!

This horse was the greatest prize in my life. She is one out of 500, and now, in her second career as a breeding mare, I hope she can give all her abilities to her offspring.

I enclose this letter with photos that show Nina and I at work, and when you believe that I can't be in Germany because it looks like the real thing, I can tell you it is! There will not be many Germans who can tell you similar stories.