THE
"only child" at the home of Marilyn Kinney in Groceville is a
four-legged one, a Hall of Famer, at that. I
wanted a horse since I was old enough to talk," said Kinney, who saw her
wish come true after she retired with her husband to Montgomery County.
She
had been a Navy wife and, before that, had moved frequently with her
parents. "I grew up in construction with Brown and Root, and moved every
year of my life."
After
living through decades of transitions, Marilyn and Richard Kinney moved
in 1978 to Montgomery County, where her parents had located several
years before. "We had lived in a trailer and we had pulled it
ourselves." It wasn’t long until she fleshed out her desire to own a
horse, and had considerably more than she had envisioned, partly because
of the steed she chose.
"I
wanted something that would be smooth riding; I could get on and ride
for quite some time and not worry about having to post; a gentle-natured
horse," she recalled. Describing herself as a "substantial woman," she
wanted a Tennessee Walking Horse because "you don’t have to bounce on
them. I didn’t want to have to bounce and post."
She
talked to the people at the feed stores and read advertisements in the
newspaper, finally finding her first horse in 1982. Then, in 1984, she
moved up to her third horse, "Odie," a Tennessee Walking Horse just
turning three. It turned out to be a deal of a lifetime.
"He
lives right behind the house," she said. "My whole family loves this
horse. He thinks he’s people. If he is not fed by seven, he tells the
whole neighborhood."
His
pasture is between the Kinneys’ residence and her mother’s place. And
what "Odie" tells the neighborhood with his whinnying may not always be
the truth.
"Sometimes he lies," she explained. "He will have been fed, but
he carries on and tries to convince everyone he hasn’t been."
That’s
not unusual, of course, for a horse that can drink cola straight
from a can. He’s as All-American as apple pie with his choice of drinks.
He eats yogurt, too.
"Odie
want?" Kinney asks him from her perch in the saddle. "Odie want
(brand name)?" Odie who has been docilely removing salt from the hands
of those standing around him snaps to attention, horse-style: Head up,
ears perked, eyes studying the distance, in anticipation of the delivery
of his favorite beverage.
Richard Kinney
strolls over with a soft drink can in hand, giving it to his wife who
takes a sip and then extends the can over Odie’s head. Odie strains back
to his right, waiting for the first caffeine-free drops to splash over
his lips. He misses only a drop or two as he quickly drains the can and
then turns to look for more. Or at least a little yogurt, maybe.
Odie
is not just any Tennessee Walking Horse, either. "He’s not going to whip
up on a warm blood," she said, but he is a natural jumper and excels at
barrels and poles. "Not better at barrels and poles than a Quarter horse
and he doesn’t jump better than a thoroughbred," Marilyn Kinney said,
but people at open shows have come to ask her how a Tennessee Walker
jumps so well.
He
won’t be a jumper for her, though, "He’s not going to be a horse trained
for that. I like all four on the ground," she said.
Summertime will mean a break from driving a school bus for
Kinney, and maybe some competitive trail riding for Kinney and Odie,
measuring both endurance and how long it takes to go from point to point
on the trail, and judging how well the rider takes care of the horse.
"I’ve
done this type of event for many years. I ride with a helmet and I take
first aid and water with me."
On
a trail ride, Odie doesn’t refuse to cross bridges, even after a
misstep. "Odie is so willing to do things for me," she said. She had
looked at a bridge and decided that he could make it across.
"I
was leading him across. He’s 16 hands high, almost. A tree limb brushed
the saddle and he stepped away from it and off the bridge, into a
six-foot ravine.
"He
was not really hurt. He just stepped off and landed okay. He had minor
surface wounds. I bandaged him. It was my misjudgment. I don’t do that
anymore."
Odie
was inducted into the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame in April
1987. Tennessee and Texas are like sister states, she said, probably
thinking about Tennessee’s Davy Crockett fighting for Texas at San
Antonio.
Since
he was the first from Texas in the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame,
Kinney took him to the neighbors to have his Hall of Fame portrait made,
standing in a field of Texas bluebonnets.
Odie
qualified for the hall by competing in the versatility program, "earning
points by doing all kinds of classes," she said. Classified as a Supreme
Versatility Champion, he is particularly strong on reining, driving and
trails.
Only
13 other Tennessee Walking Horses had been selected for the Hall of Fame
prior to Odie’s induction. At that time, 105 points were required.
[Actually, 70 were required; Odie had 105!]
A
small copy of the same Hall of Fame photograph hangs over her head in
Conroe Independent School District bus 81, which she drives. "It’s a
regular snap shot with a magnet on the back, in the very center of the
front of the bus."
"I
enjoy the kids, but I don’t bring them home with me," she said, speaking
as a mother whose two daughters are grown and on their own.
About
seven years ago, she started proving her optimistic view of life by
driving elementary and intermediate children to and from their schools,
which includes Creighton Intermediate and Sam Houston Elementary.
While
her attitude about her horse is relaxed, she takes the school bus runs
seriously.
"I
am very strict. You don’t put your hands out. You face front. You stay
seated. There is a time when there is too much noise. We stop and we
have a talk."
If
the students see her with Odie at a parade in Conroe or elsewhere in
Montgomery County, they might not immediately recognized him, or her.
The
clues are his color and markings. He’s a sorrel with a light-colored
mane and tail and has a white stockings in back and a blaze on his face.
She always wears a helmet. The latest design for riders, it resembles a
bicycle helmet.
For
parades, they are a colorful pair. She matches her clothes to his tack.
Odie gets into the spirit, having no problem wearing a costume - such as
pants and a cap - as he marches down the street.
At
the Woodlands parade, he went as Uncle Sam, with the pants, only on his
front legs, and a top hat. Last year at the Go Texan parade, he wore
chaps and a coonskin cap.
He
also wears sunglasses, a flowered visor and loud-colored leggins when
he’s promoting going to the beach at Lake Conroe. "He has never even
flinched."
For
the Christmas parade two years ago in Conroe, he pulled Santa Clause in
a buggy. Pretending to be a reindeer, he was adorned with antlers.
There
is more to this horse than the show points it took to qualify him for
the Hall of Fame. Take Easter, for example. "He wears bunny ears and
hunts eggs. He loves candy eggs. He will kill for candy." she laughed.
When
Odie moved in at the Kinneys, he knew his gaits. He had a flat walk and
a running walk. "He knew how to eat. He had got that down to
perfection."
"He
knows the words ‘carrot’ and ‘apple’. Don’t say those in front of this
horse or he will be in your face. He’s a people horse."
Reprinted with permission of the Montgomery County
Magazine.
and the Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse magazine, April, 1994
I would
like to thank Marilyn for contributing Odie's story &
photographs, giving us the opportunity to meet this extraordinary
Champion Tennessee Walking Horse.
Adult Supreme Champions
Youth Superior Champions
