Category: Horses

Why do Cowboys Wear Huge Belt Buckles?

3/9/2023

In Summer of the Bombers, my novel scheduled to be published April 10, the main character's house burns down when a controlled burn turns into a wild fire. One of the things that "Punkin" Davis misses the most is her rodeo belt buckle.

When I taught in a middle school that was part of a ranching community, many of my students wore big, shiny belt buckles that they were very proud of. Western belt buckles are not just fashion; they have an interesting history and serve an important purpose in Western culture.

Until the late 1800s, most men, including cowboys, didn’t wear belts with buckles at all. Pants were high-waisted, and tightened with a cinch at the back, or were held up with suspenders. It wasn’t until after Levi Strauss began mass-producing dungaree jeans that had belt loops that men, including cowboys, gave up suspenders and began wearing belts with buckles. Most buckles then, as now, had a square or rectangular piece of metal attached to one end of the belt, with a tongue that went through a hole in the leather to secure it.

Victorian British Army Officer's buckle

The big buckles that cowboys wear have their origins in the buckles worn by soldiers in European Armies, who expected their soldiers to look sharp when they headed into battle. Each unit issued a different belt buckle to their men, making them easy to distinguish from one another. These buckles were often made of brass and engraved with heraldry or insignia that identified their leader. The buckles of officers were more elaborate, and sometimes made of gold. It became a tradition for these buckles to be worn at parades and other important events long after the war in which it was issued was over.

US Army Officer's buckle, 1855

United States picked up the practice of military belt buckles by the time of the Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, friction belt buckles were mass produced in large quantities. These buckles where the belt is pulled behind and through the buckle to keep the belt in place were issued. Those buckles don’t have a prong or hole, and were made of brass. After the end of the Civil War, many veterans kept their buckles.

Most American military units have switched back to functional buckles. The exception is the U.S. Army Cavalry, which stuck with European tradition and maintains large and ornate buckles that incorporated heraldry elements.

When competitive and organized rodeos started in late 19th century Colorado, the only cowboys who wore buckles were veterans of the American Civil War. Then, in the 1920s, men’s pants fashion changed. With the lower waistline, belts became a more practical way to keep them up. About the same time, Hollywood began glamorizing the wild west. Hollywood cowboys such as Tom Mix and Gene Autry wore flashy buckles that audiences all across America oohed and ahhed over. In 1920, the San Francisco Cow Palace in California began awarding buckles as prizes at professional rodeo events.

Because belt buckles continue to be awarded for accomplishments such as barrel racing, bull riding, team roping, tie down roping and more, trophy buckles are sort of a cowboy’s resume. The most coveted buckles are those awarded by the PRCA, and once earned, are worn with pride.

Of course, not all big belt buckles are awards. Large belt buckles are also for sale. Some have the name of a dude ranch on them and can be bought by tourists. Other buckles feature places of interest, animals, or even brands of trucks. But the ones worn with the most pride have been earned.

Summer of the Bombers, a middle grade contemporary novel about the devastating effects of a wildfire, is scheduled to be published on April 10th. You can preorder the ebook version on Amazon, or the paperback through the author.

When a controlled burn goes out of control, it burns a path a destruction through everything that fourteen-year-old Margaret “Punkin” Davis loves. Her home is destroyed, her horse is stolen, and her family is broken apart. She must find the inner strength to rebuild her life one piece at a time or lose everything.
This YA novel about resilience and self determination is based on the events of the devastating Cerro Grande Fire in May, 2000, one of many wild fires that have raged throughout the Western United States.

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A New Cover for a New Book

2/6/2023

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Back in the spring of 2000, a controlled burn in the Jemez Mountains jumped its control lines and became a raging wildfire. Known at the Cerro Grande fire, it burned over 400 homes in Los Alamos, New Mexico, shut down the National Laboratory there, and threw life into confusion and chaos for thousands of residents.

The news story stuck with me for a long time, haunting my thoughts and leading me to ask a lot of questions. What would it have been like to live through something like that? How would losing one's home affect a family? What about the pets of the people burned out? Was everyone helpful, or did predators also descend on the victims of this fire?

Finally, my thoughts propelled me to write. I began writing Summer of the Bombers in 2014, during November's National Novel Writing challenge. I got a third of the way through, then set it aside. I didn't pick it up again for eight years.

I usually create a mock-up cover early in the writing process. It helps me think about what I have to say and where the story is going. When I pulled out the manuscript began working on it again last year, I created a cover that had some of the elements of the story in it. Fire. Forest. One of the bombers that dropped fire retardant on the flames, and whose drone became the background music for the entire time that the fire raged. I also included a picture of someone on horseback because that horse and his rider are central to the story.

Does anyone recognize the horse and rider? I took that image from another of my novels!

But while creating a cover to help guide my writing is helpful, what I create isn't professional enough for the published novel itself. A published novel needs a cover that reflects the story and lets the reader know what genre the book is in. Horror covers look very different from Romance covers, and a cover for a middle grade novel must be different from a novel written for adults. Many of my latest covers have been created by a Ukrainian company called Get Covers. I gave the artist a brief synopsis of the story, similar to this copy, which I plan to put on the back cover:

When the Forest Service announces a controlled burn to clear dead wood from the National Forest, no one in Alamitos, New Mexico is worried. But the fire goes out of control, burning a path of destruction that threatens everything that fourteen-year-old Margaret “Punkin” Davis holds dear. Her home destroyed, her horse stolen and her family broken apart, she must find the inner strength to rebuild her life one piece at a time or lose everything.

Based on events during the devastating Cerro Grande Fire in May, 2000, one of many wild fires that have raged throughout the Western United States, this is a novel about resilience and self determination.

I also told the artist that Punkin was a redhead and Wildfire, her horse, was a Palomino. The novel is a YA, short for young adult novel, which means that anyone from the sixth or seventh grade on up would be able to read it. Based on that, this is what the artist came up with:

I showed this cover to my critique group, and they were less than enthusiastic. While the girl is a redhead, the look on her face made them feel that this was a horror novel, and the background was just too grim for them. They wondered if people looking at it might think she'd caused the fire. Was she a firebomber? An arsonist?

I went back to the drawing board, looking for a picture of a girl who had more emotion and more of an attachment to her horse. Also, I wanted a bomber in the picture since it was in the title. Maybe that would keep people from thinking that the girl was a firebomber who set forests ablaze! This is what the second attempt at a cover looked like:

This was closer, but not quite right, either. My critique group thought it looked like the girl's hair was on fire! They also thought the bomber looked pretty toy-like: definitely not the type of plane we'd seen leaving Kirtland Airforce Base with a belly full of slurry. Also, this girl is way fancier than my Punkin. She'd never wear a top like that one! And the horse was not the Palomino I'd written about. I went back to the artist again.

They say the third time's a charm. The artist was able to find a better plane, and make the slurry the orangy-red color that most of us had seen on news clips. She was also able to change Punkin's shirt into something a little more suitable for the character. But she wasn't able to change the horse, or get rid of the model's fingernail polish.

So the mountain came to Mohammed. I contacted my rancher friend (whose help with the horsey and cow scenes in my books has been invaluable!) who could tell me that the horse in the picture was a bay. I changed the story to make my horse a bay, and I added a scene where another character talked Punkin into trying nail polish. It's funny, the things we have to do as writers!

Here is the final cover (minus the back copy.) What do you think?

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WildFires in New Mexico

1/19/2023

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On the Parjarito Plateau, a volcanic plateau in the Jemez Mountains of north central New Mexico, large fires used to occur about every twenty years, following a natural climate cycle. Years of heavy rains and deep snows would lead to luxuriant growth of new trees and undergrowth, which would become natural fuel during drought years. Lately, the frequency and intensity of fires has increased, and so have their damage. Some of these fires have begun naturally, most frequently from lightning strikes. Others have been started by irresponsible people who've thrown a cigarette butt out the window of a moving car or left a campfire smoldering. The latest and most destrucive have begun as controlled burns that overstepped their bounds. Here are some of the most notable of the past eighty years.

The first time a fire led to the evacuation of Los Alamos laboratories was in 1954. The Water Canyon Fire began as a trash and construction debris burn on June 5, 1954. High winds, including gusts up to 45 mph pushed the fire north. It burned out of control for several days before 1,000 firefighters and a drop in wind speed slowed it down. Between 3,000 and 6,000 acres of forest were lost.

Archaeologists walk in front of bulldozers in an attempt to preserve and protect indigenous and early sites during the La Mesa fire.

On June 16 1977, the La Mesa fire began. It took a week and over 1,300 personnel to contain the fire that investigators believe began with a spark from a motorcycle. The fire reached K-site and S-site, two facilities in Los Alamos National Laboratory used to fabricate and test chemical explosives, and burned 15,444 acres of Bandelier National Monument. Approximately 60% of the drainage basin of Rio de Los Frijoles, a tributary of the Rio Grande, was burned, leading to severe erosion when the monsoons began later that summer.

The Dome Fire, seen from Los Alamos

In 1996, the Dome Fire began on April 26, when two campers left a campfire burning. By the time it was controlled, it had burned over 16,500 acres and threatened the southern section of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Large areas of Capulin Canyon and the Dome Wilderness were charred. The fire sent flames hundreds of feet into the air and developed a spectacular plume that could be seen for miles. Over 800 firefighters fought this blaze.

Two years after that, the Cerro Grande Fire began in May 2000 as a controlled burn that was supposed to reduce fire danger in Bandelier National Monument. High winds and dry conditions led the fire to jump its bounds. The fire destroyed over 400 homes in Los Alamos and damaged or destroyed several structures at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Over 43,000-acres were charred.

Two years later, the Oso Complex Fire was intentionally started by a man as a protest against government officials whom he claimed were using environmental laws to displace the poor, Hispanic population. Begun on June 20, 1998, the fire burned 5,185 acres of National Forest, including over 1,200 acres owned by Santa Clara Pueblo. It came within 8 miles of Los Alamos before rains and over 800 fire fighters, many of whom were Native Americans, were able to stop it. The arsonist pled guilty and was given a seven-year sentence in federal prison.

When it happened in 2011, the Las Conchas Fire was the largest wildfire the state of New Mexico had ever seen. It began on June 26, 2011 when an old, dead aspen tree blew into a power line. Driven by strong and unpredictable winds, the fire burned more than 150,000 acres of Pajarito Plateau and threatened the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, the town of Cochiti, Los Alamos, and Santa Clara Pueblo. It was surpassed in 2012 by the much larger Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire and in 2022 by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire and the Black Fire.

The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burned 341,471 acres and blazed from early April to late June. This fire, was in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and not on Parjarito Plateau. Part of the record-breaking 2022 wildfire season, it was the largest wildfire of 2022 in the contiguous United States and destroyed or damaged nearly a thousand structures, including several hundred homes. The fire began as two separate wildfires, both of which were U.S. Forest Service prescribed burns. It was not fully contained until August 21.

However they are started, wildfires in New Mexico cause terrible damage and stress to its residents, who live in fear both for their property and their lives. As climate change dries out the forests, we must all be even more vigilant.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a former English and history teacher who lives in a remote spot in the mountains of central New Mexico.The local fire department has told her that her own house is unlikely to be saved in a wildfire.

Her next novel, Summer of the Bombers, will be released in April 2023. Set in the fictitious town of Alamitos, it tells the story of a young woman whose life becomes chaotic after a controlled burn goes rogue and destroys her house. It is based loosely on the Cerro Grande fire of 2000.

You can read more about her and her books here.

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The Cerro Grande Fire

1/12/2023

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Fourteen years after the Cerro Grande fire, devastation on the Quemazon Trail west of Los Alamos is still obvious. This image was obtained from http://www.gao.gov/new.items/rc00257t.pdf, a document titled "T-RCED-00-257 Fire Management: Lessons Learned From the Cerro Grande Fire", Public Domain

In May of 2000, a disastrous forest fire that came to be named The Cerro Grande Fire began in the hills above the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico. By the time it was contained, it had burned many homes, threatened national security, and destroyed the lives of many people.

The fire started as a controlled burn high on Cerro Grande, a 10,200-foot summit covered with a mix of ponderosa pine, douglas fir, white fir, and aspen trees. The summit, which sits on the rim of the Valles Caldera, has a rincon, or meadow on its southern slopes. The United States Forest Service chose that rincon as the starting place for a controlled burn that was part of a 10-year plan for reducing fire hazard within Bandelier National Monument. That rincon is the headwaters of Frijoles Creek, which flows southeast into the Rio Grande. It is close to New Mexico State Road 4, the main highway through Los Alamos County.

The smoke from the fire made it all the way to Oklahoma. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10523496

Spring may not be the best time to start controlled burns in the Jemez. High winds are common during this time of year. In addition to that, the forests were extremely dry but filled with undergrowth. In the early-to-mid-1990s, the Jemez had received abnormally high precipitation, leading to an explosion of luxuriant undergrowth. Then, several years of severe drought had dried out the forest. Deadfall, trees that had died and laid on the ground, had a moisture content lower than that of well-cured firewood. Conditions were ideal for a major forest fire. However, officials worried that if controlled burn were not used to clear the forest, a lightning strike or human carelessness could lead to disaster. Officials decided that a controlled burn was safer than letting nature take its course. The burn was scheduled to begin late in the evening of May 4, 2000.

Just after the burn had begun, the winds picked up. By May 5th, the fire had burned through its controllines on the east side. The burn was declared a wildfire that afternoon. By May 7th, the fire’s behavior had become increasingly erratic, with spotting, the creation of new ﬁres, due to flying embers, becoming common. Los Alamos National Laboratory shut down operations on May 8. Two days later, the town of Los Alamos was evacuated. That evening, 235 homes in Los Alamos were destroyed.

By the time the fire was declared officially contained, on June 6, over 400 families had lost their homes and over 43,000 acres had been burned. Los Alamos National Laboratory suffered from destruction or damage to its structures, but none of the special nuclear material housed there was destroyed or damaged. Luckily, there was no loss of human life. The US General Accounting Office estimated total damages at $1 billion. The Cerro Grande fire was declared extinguished on July 20, 2000.

But even if the fire was no longer threatening Los Alamos, life could not go back to normal. Scientists determined that the soil beneath a layer of ash or burned soil had become hydrophobic, or water repellant. Los Alamos, the laboratory, and the lower parts of the burned area are all situated on the Pajarito Plateau, an area which has a lot of canyons that concentrate surface runoff. When the monsoon rains which usually begin in July occurred, it was highly likely that the hydrophobic soil would result in serious flash flooding. Diamond Drive, one of the town's arterial roads, was damaged in such a flood.

These floods also created serious erosion issues, especially along the 57 miles of trails that had become clogged with fallen trees and boulders washed down from higher elevations. A volunteer task force devoted many thousands of hours to rebuilding trails and planting trees. Local school children made many thousands of "seed balls" to broadcast in the burned areas, and about 7000 hydromulching and hydroseeding flights occurred during the month of July. Water quality had to be monitored for several years after the fire.

A FEMAville in Greensburg, Kansas photo by Jackie Langholz

In order to house people who had been burned out, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) brought in portable buildings, or trailers. The trailers weren’t available until June because they not only had to be delivered, but hooked up to municipal utilities that had to be extended out to undeveloped land near the county rodeo grounds on North Mesa. Known locally as FEMAville, the complex housed hundreds of displaced residents. In 2006, when the trailers were removed, most of the displaced residents had been settled into new homes, although reconstruction of houses in the burned area continued for several years after that.

Wildfires have grown increasingly common in the years since the Cerro Grande fire, and they continue to be a source of great controversy, especially when they begin through government action.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is an author of books for middle grade through adult readers. She lives in the fire-prone mountains of central New Mexico. Her next book, Summer of the Bombers, is scheduled to come out on April 10th. The story of a girl who loses both her home and her horse because of a controlled burn gone rampant, it is based loosely on the Cerro Grande fire.

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Great Reads for Horse-Crazy Girls

1/23/2022

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Young girls and horses are a special duo. Like many young girls, I was enamored with horses when I was young. I was lucky enough to have a friend who had one. She let me muck stables and pick hooves to my heart's content. I rode nearly every summer while attending Girl Scout Camp, and when I was old enough, I became a camp counselor. I spent two summers leading trail rides and teaching younger girls all about horses.

Here are two books for girls who are as horse-crazy as I was. It's interesting (and completely coincidental!) that both involve cases of mistaken identity.

Yee ha! Middle Grade Readers will love LuAnn M. Rod's Maddie McDowell and the Rodeo Robbery! (Chicken Scratch Books, June 2021)

After her mother's death, Maddie is sent to a strict school for young ladies. A lady Maddie is not. She's a cowgirl who wants to join the rodeo! Fortunately for her, she's mistaken for a rodeo star, and gets a chance to prove herself. Unfortunately, someone else riding with the rodeo is a thief. Maddie must gather her courage and her wits to solve the mystery, earn her own spot in the rodeo, and reconcile herself with her family.

Set right after the close of World War I, this book has few historical references, but the clothing, the technology and some of the customs firmly set it in its period. This book lopes along at a good pace. It has some fun characters that readers will really want to cheer for, including a pugnacious dog who always shows up and the right time. Maddie learns some valuable life lessons in this sweet and fun read.

Linda Wilson's Tall Boots is for a slightly younger reader. In it, Ashley is a beginning rider who wants to earn a blue ribbon at the 4-H show and convince her mother that she is serious enough about riding to deserve a pair of tall riding boots. When her too-big helmet slips over her face, Ashley is mistaken for someone else and ends up competing in a more experienced class of riders. Luckily for her, Lacy, her spunky Welsh Mountain pony, knows just what to do. This picture book is filled with colorful and sweet illustrations and includes information on how readers can join the 4-H.

Jennifer Bohnhoff was a middle school teacher for years. Now she's staying home to write and walk her enormous dog in the mountains outside her house. Her novel Code: Elephants on the Moon is also the story of a girl and her horse. Set in Normandy just prior to the D-Day Invasion, Eponine Lambaol and Galopin, her stocky Brittany, must avoid tangling with the Nazis that run her village as she helps the French Resistance and tries to come to grips with the secrets in her own past. This, too, is a middle grade book about a spunky girl with a mistaken identity.

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Horses in History: Black Jack

11/28/2021

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Black Jack served the military in a unique way.

Black Jack was born on January 19,1947 and purchased by the US Army Quartermaster on November 22, 1953. Although his breeding wasn’t recorded, he is likely a mix of Morgan and Quarter horse. He was named in honor of John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, the U.S. Army General who led America’s military forces to victory in Europe during World War I. He was the last horse ever to be branded by the Army. He had the Army’s U.S. brand on his left shoulder and his Army serial number, 2V56, on the left side of his neck.

One of the traditional functions of the Army’s Quartermaster Corps was supplying the cavalry with well-trained horses. Fort Reno in Oklahoma was where most horses were trained, and it was where Black Jack went after being purchased. The feisty, spirited animal made it clear from the start that he did not like to carry riders. He threw rider after rider into the dirt of the training corral. Although his handlers did manage to control him somewhat, he never lost his fiery spirit, which made him a favorite at Fort Reno.

Black Jack was so beautiful that the Army decided not to part with him. Coal black, and with a small white star, the handsome horse was 15.1 hands tall and weighed almost 1,200 pounds. He was well built with a beautiful head. The Army transferred him to Virginia’s Fort Myer, where he was attached to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard”. The Old Guard is the Army’s oldest active duty infantry regiment, dating back to 1784. The horses and soldiers that make up The Old Guard participate in an average of six funerals per day.

Black Jack was placed into Caisson Platoon. Horses in the Caisson Platoon serve two functions. One is pulling funeral caissons. Caissons are small wagons that carried cannons, ammunition, spare parts, and tools. Funeral caissons have a flat platform on which the flag-draped casket sits. Six horses, matched blacks or grays that are paired into three teams, pull the caisson All six horses are saddled, but only the horses on the left have mounted riders. This tradition has carried over from the days of horse-drawn artillery, when one horse carried the soldier, and the other horse carried extra supplies. The three teams are the lead team in front, the swing team in the middle, and the wheel team closest to the caisson.
Instead of pulling a funeral caisson, Black Jack served as the Caparisoned, or riderless, horse that followed the caisson. The caparisoned horse represents the soldier who will no longer ride in the brigade. He wears the cavalry saddle, with a sword and a pair of boots reversed, or facing backwards, in the stirrups.
Riderless horses have been a part of military funerals since Ghengis Khan’s time. Then, the horses were sacrificed so that their spirits could travel with its master to the afterlife. While they are no longer sacrificed, riderless horses represent the bond between horse and rider on the soldier’s final journey. The backward boots in his stirrups suggest that the warrior is having one last look back at his life. In the United States, caparisoned horses participate in funerals for people who have achieved the rank of colonel in the Army or Marines or above.

Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S. president to have a caparisoned horse at his funeral. George Washington and Zachary Taylor’s personal horses were in their master’s funeral processions.

Black Jack was the riderless black horse in the funerals of three presidents: Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson He also served in the funeral of Douglas MacArthur and more than a thousand others. Black Jack retired on June 1, 1973 and died after 29 years of military service on Feb. 6, 1976. He was buried on the parade grounds of Fort Myer with full military honors and his remains were transported using the same caisson he’d walked behind during the funerals of three American presidents.

The only other horse honored with a military funeral was Comanche, the only surviving horse of Custer’s last stand.

After Black Jack retired, “Sgt.York” carried on this tradition. He served as the riderless horse in President Reagan’s funeral procession, walking behind the caisson bearing Reagan’s flag-draped casket.

Jennifer Bohnhoff writes historical fiction for people from ten to adult. Several of her books, including Code:Elephants on the Moon and A Blaze of Poppies include horses used in war.

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Horses from History: Man o' War

8/29/2021

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Even though he never ran the Kentucky Derby, Man o' War is perhaps the most famous thoroughbred race horse of all time.

Man o' War was born in March of 1917. He was named for his owner, August Belmont, Jr., who joined the United States Army soon after the colt's birth. Belmont was 65, but World War I had inspired him to serve overseas, in France, despite his age.

Man o' War, who was also called Big Red, won an amazing 20 of his 21 races. His only loss was, ironically, against a horse named Upset, and came after a bad start, where he was reportedly facing the wrong way when the starter raised the tape.
The talented horse never ran the Kentucky Derby because his owner, Samuel Riddle, thought that the spring weather in Kentucky was too unpredictable. Considering that it has snowed on Derby day more than once, he may have had a point. In 1989, the race time temperature in Louisville was 43 degrees, a little cool for a horse to run 1 ¼ miles without straining his muscles.
After his racing career, Man o’ War was put out to stud. He sired many famous racehorses, including the 1929 Kentucky Derby Winner Clyde Van Dusen and War Admiral, who won the Triple Crown in 1937. Another of his progeny, Hard Tack, became the father of Seabiscuit, the small horse that came to symbolize hope during the Great Depression.

Man o’ War died in November of 1947 at the age of 30, which is advanced for a horse. His body was embalmed, then placed in a giant, custom-made casket. It took 13 men to carry the 1,200 pound horse to his grave. His death was reported in The New York Times with the kind of pomp that was usually reserved for celebrities and politicians.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a former educator who is now devoting her time to writing historical fiction. Her next book, A Blaze of Poppies, will be published in October 2021 and tells the story of a female rancher from New Mexico and her experiences as a nurse during World War I.

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Horses in History: Traveller

6/27/2021

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Horses served an important role in the Civil War, and suffered as greatly as the men beneath them. It has been estimated that 1.5 million horses and mules died in the Civil War. Five million pounds of dead horses was removed from the Gettysburg battlefield alone. But of all the horses that served in this period, none is as famous as Traveller.

Traveller, spelled as the British do, with two Ls, was an iron grey American Saddlebred with black points and a dark mane and tail. The 16-hand tall horse was sired by a race horse named Grey Eagle, who had won $20,000 in a Louisville, Kentucky stake race, and born in 1857 in Greenbrier County, in what is now West Virginia. His first owner named him “Jeff Davis,” after the Mississippi Senator and Mexican American War hero who eventually became the President of the Confederacy.

In 1861 the son of the original owner took the horse with him when he joined the legion of former Virginia governor Brig. Gen. Henry Wise. He sold the horse to Captain Joseph M. Broun, a quartermaster of Wise’s Legion’s 3rd Infantry. Broun renamed the horse “Greenbriar.” When Robert E. Lee arrived to advise Wise in late August 1861, he saw Broun’s horse and was immediately taken with him, calling the horse ‘my colt’ and saying he would need it before the war was over. Aware of the difference in their ranks, Broun offered to give the horse to Lee, who declined the offer. Broun then offered to sell Greenbriar to Lee for the same price he had himself paid for the horse. Lee added an extra $15 to cover the depreciating value of the Confederate dollar. Lee bought the horse in February 1862 and renamed him Traveller because of his ability to walk at a fast pace.

Although Traveller was not the only horse Lee rode from that time on, it was the one he rode and most and the one that became linked to him in the public’s eye. He was known for great endurance during long marches, and being unflappable in battle. He was not perfect, though. Lee’s youngest son, Robert E. Lee Jr later wrote that the horse fretted a lot, especially when in crowds if he wasn’t regularly exercised. At the Second Battle of Manassas he shied at enemy movements, rearing and throwing the General, who broke bones in both his hands during the fall.

After the war, Lee continued to keep the grey near him. He brought Traveller to Washington University when he became its president, and the pair were a common site on campus. Traveller became such a celebrity that his mane and tail thinned because students plucked the dark hairs as souvenirs. Locks of Lee’s hair and Traveller’s mane are still part of the collection at Arlington House, Lee’s former home on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

When Lee died in October of 1870, Traveller was draped in black crepe walked, riderless, behind the funeral hearse. Less than a year later, Traveller stepped on a nail and contracted tetanus. He died June of 1871 and was buried along a creek adjoining Washington University’s campus near Lee Chapel.

But Traveller’s story didn’t end with his death. In 1875, Custis Lee, who had succeeded his father as President of the institution that was renamed Washington and Lee University after the General’s death, exhumed Traveller and sent his bones to Henry Augustus Ward, a University of Rochester faculty member who traveled the world acquiring a massive assortment of geological and zoological specimens and taxidermy samples for museums.

CLIPPED FROM The Times-Picayune New Orleans, Louisiana 15 Dec 1875, Wed

An undated image of Traveller’s skeleton on display in Lexington.

The skeleton was returned to Washington and Lee in 1907, and later moved to the basement of Lee Chapel. By the time his bones were reburied in front of the chapel in 1960, the bones had deteriorated and were covered with the penned signatures of visitors.

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a writer who lives in the mountains of central New Mexico. You can read about her on her website. You can read another story about a horse from history, Sergeant Reckless, an Army horse during the Korean war, here.

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Breton Horses

5/30/2014

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The horse I saw in Amblie

"Write something about a girl and her horse," an editor had said at a SCBWI conference I had attended that spring. Living out in New Mexico, I don't have too many chances to interact with editors at major New York publishing companies, so when told me to do something I took note. And the fact that SCBWI, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, had brought this editor out impressed me even more deeply.

So here I was, walking with my husband through the little French Norman town of Amblie. It was evening and we had eaten the dinner of sausage and cheese and fruit and wine and very good bread that I'd carried back from Bayeaux in the handlebar basket of my bicycle. The shadows were growing long in this sleepy little town. Every once in awhile a villager would throw open their window and greet us. "Bonjour, les Americaines!," they'd call. Obviously we were the only visitors in town.

As we walked I thought about the story possibilities that this town offered. I thought about Amblie's close proximity to the D-Day beaches, the little Norman church, which had parts dating from the 9th Century and sat on a hill overlooking the 12th Century mill house we'd rented. There were so many possible time periods in which to set a story. And time period aside, what should the story be about? My French poet friend on the train (See the blog post entitled "Where Ideas Come From" in the April 2014 archives) had suggested the idea of the animosity between Normans and Bretons, but what could I do with that idea?

We came around a corner and saw this horse, and the editor's suggestion came back to me. Here was a horse whose story, perhaps, needed to be told.

He was certainly not what I'd call a handsome horse. He had a very thick neck and a large head, which made him look front-heavy. He had a barrel body set on short legs. I snapped his picture anyway, and told myself I'd think about who he was and how I might work him into the story.

When I got back home I began researching my stocky little horse and came to the conclusion that he was a Breton. The Breton is a horse bred for heavy draft and farm work. The breed was developed, as one might expect from the name, in Brittany, but the origins of its native ancestral stock, which dates back thousands of years, is disputed. Some sources say that the Bretons comes from horses that were brought by Aryans as they migrated into Europe from Asia four thousand years ago. Other sources says that the breed was developed by Celtic warriors who were preparing for their conquest of the British Isles. The ideal Breton stands 15 to 16 hands high, considerably larger than the horse I saw. Many of the pictures of Bretons on the internet show horses that are even greater in girth and shorter of leg than my horse. But he had won me over, ugliness and all. And as I began to write, he became Gallopin, the horse beloved by my protagonist.

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