OklahomaHorses Magazine January 2023

January / February • OklahomaHorses 9 dangling along the ground. Dad agreed to keep an eye on him while she finished cleaning her room. Connie had saved for more than two years to buy a beautiful new English saddle. She took her horsemanship very seriously and took riding lessons, practicing very hard. She became an accomplished rider and entered many shows. Twister was a very willing participant who worked hard to help Connie achieve her goals. In the pond was a cove full of lily pads and cattails. The frogs loved to jump from one lily pad to another. I would sit under the bald cypress and gaze at the bullfrogs. Their legs were so powerful and propelled them such great distances! I loved to hear their songs in the summer evenings. Taking a break from my chores, I caught myself daydreaming at the lily-pad cove when I heard Spot barking. It was not a full-fledged bark but more of a “Swoof.” He had been swimming in the big pond and moved close to me to shake off. I leaned back, and he rolled over on his back and allowed me to scrub his tummy. He was not exactly clean. In fact, he smelled like fish. That is when I noticed Twister gazing at the lily pads. Do horses eat lily pads? They eat grass, so why not? I had an idea and headed toward Dad to explain what I wanted to do. Like Dad, I have large brown eyes, and I was learning to use them to persuade him to go along with my plans. I wanted to sit on Twister. I knew he would say no, Connie would say no, Mom would abso- lutely say no. But I was determined to sit on that horse. I thought I should be direct and come right out and ask. Dad was hot and working hard. I knew it would not be good to break the rhythm of his work. He did not have enough time to finish all his work, and I knew he wanted to get as much done as possible before sunset. I needed to convince him quickly. I scampered straight in front of him and started my explanation. “Dad, could you put me on Twister? I won’t go anywhere, I just want to sit on him. I promise not to bother you again. I just want to see what it is like.” He looked up and of course, said “NO, you are too little. Wait until your legs can fit in the stirrups.” I knew it would be years before I grew that tall. I begged and pleaded. He asked me, “Is your room clean?” “Dang,” I thought. I said, “No, I’ll go clean it. Then can I sit on him?” Dad, thinking that cleaning my room would take me hours, said, “We will see.” That was a yes to me. Fulfilling the Bargain I ran inside as fast as I could. I purposely ran right past Connie’s room. If I told her that Dad had said, “We’ll see about sitting on Twister,” she would put a stop to that. I threw all of my Snoopy toys into the toy box, stacked the shoes in the bottom of my closet, pulled my sheets up, and tried to pull my bedspread up and over the pillow. I repeated that step to tidy Kellie’s bed too because we shared a room. I got the dust rag and went over the tops of the furniture. I dragged out the enormous, heavy red Kirby vacuum cleaner. I could barely budge it. I was not allowed to use an electrical plug, so I had to ask Connie to plug it in for me. My vacuuming job did not look very well done. I’ll just have to tell Dad the truth — I tried. That must be worth something, right? I looped the cord around the clips on the handle of the vacuum and dragged it back down the long hallway to the closet. I ran as fast as I could back to Dad. He looked at me and started to laugh. “Did you already clean your room?” he asked. Out of breath, I explained, “I picked up my Snoopy toys and put them in the toy box, put my shoes into the closet, and made both of our beds. I also dusted and tried to vacuum.” I immediately contin- ued, “I did not plug it in, I asked Connie to do it for me.” Dad replied, “That was a good choice and I’m proud of you for working so hard, but I really am not sure that sitting on Twister is such a good idea. Do you think you can sit still and not encourage him to move?” “Of course!” I shouted. He hesitated and bit his lip. I danced around in excitement. He was actually considering it! His reply surprised me. He reluctantly said, “OK, but you must promise to sit very still. Do not move or talk. Can you do that?” “I promise!” I said in great excitement. I could hardly contain myself. Dad lifted me up onto Twister. I had a difficult time straddling the saddle. My legs were not long enough to come close to resting in the stirrups, so I stuck my feet in a stirrup strap near the skirt. Dad told me to hang onto Twister’s mane and just sit very still. His reins were still dangling along the ground. I felt so tall. I could see over the tall weeds to the lily pads on the big pond. I felt as though I could see for miles. Dad went back to his spraying, and I sat on Twister. I felt grown up. I knew Connie would not be happy about this, but I did have Dad’s permission. I remembered that Connie’s riding instructor had told her to squeeze her legs in the saddle, so I did the same. I saw Mom stand up with her arms full of flowers, and she waved at me. I could tell by her body language that she was not happy that I was sitting on Twister. She was very protective of her three daugh- ters and disapproved of this particular activity. I knew not to yell to assure her that I was fine for fear I would spook Twister into moving. Mom went back to garden- ing. One problem was solved! Stepping into a Surprise That’s when Twister took a step. I grabbed the saddle and pulled on his mane. I heard Spot growling. He was still under the tree but was now alerted and sitting up straight. Dad had fired up the push lawn mower and was mowing the edge of the pond. Twister took another step and then another. I could not reach the dangling reins. I hung on as he continued to walk through the clover. He stopped to munch on some tender grass Karen Dugan gets an early equestrian opportunity during a family vacation at Fin and Feather Resort near Lake Tenkiller in 1967.