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Arthur the Horse

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a kid hugging a brown horse

Original titles are not my strong point. He’s a horse, his name is Arthur and that’s all I got.

Well, not really. I also have a animal-crazed little girl who absolutely adores him to bits. If you ask her if she would like to go visit Nana and Papa, her eyes light up and she will exclaim “And I can see Orangie and Drop Off and Arthur”

Speaking of which, maybe originality just doesn’t run in my family.

Now hold on, just wait just a cotton pickin’ minute!

Who names their three children Karlynn, Karami and Wyatt, then proceeds to name their cats Orangie and Drop Off?

Nonono. Seriously. Work with me here.

Guess what color Orangie is? If you guess that she resembles a pumpkin, you would be correct.

And guess how Drop Off came to be a family member? She wasn’t exactly picked out at the pet store, just sayin’.

And yet my siblings and I end up with names that no one can spell, pronounce or otherwise figure out. Except for Wyatt, these days it seems there is a little Wyatt in every classroom. But boy, when we were growing up, there were none of us. My name is a bastardization of Carolyn, Karami is a popular last name in the Middle East/Asia, and Wyatt was a famous cowboy/lawman from the dime store novel days.

I guess they just plum ran out of original names by the time pets rolled around.

But Arthur is far more than a pet, he’s the 6th family member. He’s outlasted our dogs from our childhood and remains the one constant on my parents acreage. He was my horse for lessons in 4H, and that was a long, long time ago seeing as how I am now nearing 34. He’s a fixture, he waits at the end of the driveway to see who’s coming and going in the neighborhood and word has it on the street that he’s even charmed a couple down the road who walk nightly to bring him treats during their wanderings.

And he’s an oat monger.

“hey, pssst, little girl, you got some oats?”

horse beyond the fence staring at the kid wearing brown coat

“ok well if you won’t give them up, I’ll just frisk you for them”

horse beyond the fence reaching out for the kid

Really, it’s becoming a problem.

“Hey you. Yah, you holding the camera. You got some oats?”

horse standing beyond the fence

“If I give you a coy side glance look, will you give me some oats? Pretty please? ” *insert batting horse eyelashes here*

And if you think there is no way that horses bat their eyelashes at you for oats, you ain’t never owned one.

horse standing beyond the fence batting eyelashes

“Ok, well you know what? I didn’t want them anyways. And you can just go now. GO.”

There is nothing more ornery than a 20 year old horse who wants oats. Unless of course, you are trying to saddle him. Then all bets are off.

horse standing beyond the wood fence in a yard filled with snow

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Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

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  1. Karlee says

    Arthur! I remember falling off Arthur when I was visiting at your old acreage when I was about 10, I can’t remember if I got back on him after that. I believe you had another horse there too at the time. I remember Arthur and him didn’t get along. That was a visit I’ll never forget, I was in heaven, kittens, dogs, horses, playing in the muddy creek with Wyatt (or maybe it was a slough…haha) getting absolutely filthy. It’s imprinted in my memory. I also remember you having a party too while I was there…haha…but I wasn’t invited 😉 I swear I was meant to be raised on a farm.

  2. Karlynn says

    The other horse was Chad, the most jacka$$ horse I have ever encountered, and not just because he bucked me off more times than I can count, or my left knee has never been the same thanks to a bad landing on one of those occasions. He was just plain mean, to the other horses, to people, to everything that moved. We had a neighbor who was an excellent handler try and love him up, and nothing worked.

    Yes, you need to build your managerie out at your place up a bit, not enough running around there yet!

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