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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
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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 |
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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.
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Lindsay with new foal
(left), and with Playboy's Champagne
(above).
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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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My fiancé, Sharon, was easily converted
to a horse lover and bird dog fan, when she
first accompanied me to the vast prairies of
North Dakota. |
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She rode her
first Tennessee Walking Horse and joined in
following championship caliber bird dogs as
they hunted the big land for pheasants and
prairie chickens. |
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%20riding%20Banjo.jpg) |
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Sharon's son, Jeremy, on
David's horse, Banjo. |
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Sharon's two boys, Jeremy and
Teddy, also developed an interest in the horses, as
both rolled up their sleeves and helped with the
imprinting, exercising, and feeding the young foals.
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Most days you can find young Teddy at Magnificent
Mack K's stall feeding him carrots.
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