Kemosabi came into my life when I was 14. My father found him at a farm when he was fixing one of the appliances. I had been saving for a horse for four years and had just over $150.00. I get just a little excited at times and it is a wonder that I slept at all that night. Janice and I waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to arrive. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining brightly. Something you tend to notice on the Oregon coast where sunshine is something of a rarity some times of the year. Janice and I ran all over the country waiting for them to finally get there with the pony.

I had only seen him once and had never been on him but he had been a fairly well ridden horse before I got him. He was going blind in one eye so was very inexpensive for a pony at $150.00. I will add that this was 1974 when horses where not terribly expensive anyway. He was only six and he was an answer to a thousand prayers. I had been working and saving and working at very job that came my way. Dad paid for him outright telling me I could pay him back then changing it to I would just need to keep up with the bills for the horse. We lived far enough from town that we couldn't get a lot of the typical children's jobs for neighbors, but I occasionally got a job taking care of someone's animals while they were away. I also did a house cleaning job on my way home from school once a week. It was hard work and not much to my liking but it at least was steady.

They delivered him to our house and I put him in the neighbor's field. It was right beside our pasture and had a lot less trees and more grass. He managed to kick at me that very fist night while I was wondering around him after giving him a bit of hay. I don't remember that ever happening again. We had the start of a beautiful friendship and we rode for hours as soon as school let out. Janice and I would take Kemo over the hills and explore everywhere we could get to on horseback.

Kemo taught me some very important lessons over the next 15 years or so. He was not the most willing horse I ever saw but he became one of the most trusting as he continued to go blind. His vision left and his trust in me and the person in the saddle deepened. He used to love to do barrels and his short coupled stride made him really good at the turn. We had metal barrels to practice around and I still have scares to prove I turned him around them a bit short at times. He was key for me in forming friendships and an opening door for a very shy backward teenager. There always seems to be someone around willing to chat with you if you are on a horse. I never seemed to get that dreadful knot in my stomach that silenced my voice and made the rest of me want to flee the scene while I was on Kemo.

He tolerated hundreds of children bouncing around on his back learning how to ride. I used to always tell my students that if you could sit his trot you could ride any gait. He had a dreadful bone jarring trot. No problem throwing you out of the saddle if you were leaning to post. Staying in the saddle was the big challenge. Sometimes Satan seems to be eager to toss us out of the saddle. Fortunately God has helped me learn through the years to stay in the saddle with him as well. We will always face tough times on this earth. 1 Peter 5:8 NKJV "Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

He good naturedly carried up to three of us girls at a time. He was giving and had a lot more sense then we did as teenagers some times. But I will tell more about him on other occasions. I will have other stories to add to this one as time goes by.