Loving Trouble: Stories Behind the Story

Horsey Character

Buddy in LOVING TROUBLE was modeled from Jim’s horse. My son Ethan showed him in Western Pleasure. The story about Buddy bucking Cody in the class was true. Buddy pulled that stunt at the Illinois State Show with a six-year-old Ethan. Buddy stood 16h. (A hand, used to measure horses, is equal to 4 inches and starts at the ground to the horse’s back.) The top of Buddy’s back was even with the top of my head. His size made him fearless with the bulls. Buddy had no problem biting at them if they gave him sass. However, I couldn’t lift an eighty-pound calf onto his back. Dad was right, burdens and benefits.