Spooked Horses and How to Help Them

 

Anyone who has ever ridden a horse probably has first-hand experience with that horse becoming spooked. Even horses that are deemed “gentle” can become spooked by something unexpected. In my new historical Western romance, Hope in Her Heart, which released today, I created a scene in which my heroine, Emma, is riding her family’s horse, Tulip. Tulip is an older mare who gives the impression of needing to be put out to pasture, certainly not the kind of equine that would be considered for the job of chasing down wanted criminals. But lo and behold, Tulip surprises everyone and does really well until she’s spooked by . . . butterflies.

Yes, you read that right. As I was researching what kinds of things have a tendency to spook horses, looking for one that might fit the scenario in my work in progress, I found butterflies listed on more than three websites, so it must be a more common occurrence than I originally supposed.

Other objects that horses tend to shy away from include: plastic bags, umbrellas, footballs, plastic cones, water hoses, and just about anything that is new or unfamiliar in their environment. Why are they so skittish, anyway?

Horses have eyes that are quite different than humans. They are positioned on the sides of their heads, and they can see approximately 350 degrees around them (wow!). Wouldn’t you like to have eyes in the back of your head like the popular myth for mothers states? It might be nice, except that horses’ eyes are not able to focus as well as human eyes, so even though they have a broader range of motion, they can’t see objects as well.

Horses are also prey animals. I have to admit that I don’t usually think of a horse as being one, but several websites I searched through stated that horses are often preyed upon by larger animals like bears, wildcats, alligators, and some species of snakes. They are always alert, and they don’t sleep lying down. So, knowing these two important facts about a horse’s eyes and it being a prey animal, it becomes clearer why a horse might perceive a garden hose as a venomous snake or a plastic bag blowing in the breeze as a large animal coming to get them.

What can a person who is preparing to ride a horse do to minimize sudden movements born of fear? First, they can choose a trail that the horse is already comfortable on. Second, they can slowly acclimate the horse to a new object by allowing it to stare at it from a distance and circling it, moving a little closer into the circle each time. Third, they need to know their horse. Like humans, horses are different from each other and react differently to the same stimulus. Be observant and figure out a strategy that works best for your horse. And fourth, they need to stay calm and in control. By taking the horse through the scary episode step by step, the horse will remember and react better the next time. One other tip: teach your horse to step sideways. These tips and other helpful information can be found at: https://horseracingsense.com/why-are-horses-so-skittish-spook/ and https://ihearthorses.com/why-horses-spook-easily-plus-tips-to-help/

 Read about Emma and Patrick's adventure in my latest Brides of Hope Hollow sweet historical romance, Hope in Her Heart, available on Amazon. You can click on the graphic below to learn more.

SHERIFF VS MARSHAL By Cheri Kay Clifton

Often historical western books depict one of their characters as a sheriff or marshal of a town including the book I’m writing now. But before I decided which one my character would be, I wanted to know the difference between them. Following is a brief overview of the duties and jurisdictions of a sheriff and marshal in the Old West.

Traditionally, the sheriff was an elected county official. Towns elected or appointed marshals. A U.S. Marshal was a federal appointment and covered outlaws who broke federal laws. A federal marshal or deputy marshal could also pull double duty as a sheriff, sheriff’s deputy, or town marshal.

The sheriff was elected to uphold the law in a particular town or county, but as soon as he crossed the town or county borders, he had no authority. Trouble was, unlike today, the borders weren’t as clearly drawn in the Old West, so the jurisdiction was sometimes uncertain.

U.S. Marshals had jurisdiction everywhere since they worked for the federal government. Their job was to apprehend fugitives from justice. A marshal’s authority could supersede that of the sheriff insofar as apprehending wanted fugitives were concerned.

Many lawmen received no pay other than a percentage of money that those they arrested might be fined, or the collection of bounties on the heads of wanted men. Consequently, some had second jobs to supplement their income as stagecoach guards; others ran saloons!

Of those who did make a salary, it was often very low, and their duties often included tasks that many felt were beneath them, such as keeping the streets clean and other municipal duties. Much of their work consisted of weeks of boring tasks, interspersed by periods of high danger and sometimes deadly altercations.

For these reasons and more, few of even the most famous lawmen spent that many years wearing a badge, including Wild Bill Hickok, who only served a few years in various 

roles and Wyatt Earp, who worked in a few Kansas cowtowns, before gunning down the Clantons in a showdown at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.

Below is a bronze sculpture of one of the most iconic fictional marshals ever portrayed on TV – Marshal Dillon.

If you're going to make a life-size statue of James Arness, you're going to need a lot of bronze. The Western star stood at a towering 6' 7". No wonder his character Matt Dillon was such an imposing figure on Gunsmoke.

For twenty seasons, Marshal Dillon kept the peace on the dusty streets of Dodge City. Now, the real-life Dodge City, a town of about 27,000 residents in southwestern Kansas, has its own Matt Dillon. On July 30, 2017, a bronze likeness of the character was installed next to the Dodge City Visitors Center on Wyatt Earp Boulevard.

 Please visit my website: www.cherikayclifton.com

Judge Parker & the Tumbleweed Wagons--U. S. Marshals in Indian Territory.

In Indian Territory, who would have thought the Five Civilized Indian Tribes leaders would complain to the Federal government about the problems caused in the Indian Nation by intruders such as whites and Negroes committing horrific crimes? In the 1870s, the Judge and Federal District Attorney at Ft. Smith were known to rig cases and the criminals were soon set free to cause more trouble. The Indian Nations had their own courts and jails for the Indians, but they had no jurisdiction over the renegades who invaded their territory and continued to disrupt the peace.

In 1875, President U.S. Grant became aware of the problem and sent Judge Isaac Parker, a fellow
Republican, to bring law to the Western Judicial District of Arkansas. It covered over 70,000 square miles and Judge Parker had less than 200 men--one U.S. Marshal and the rest Deputies.

In 1875 a U.S. Marshal's salary was $90 a month and Deputies only received mileage, 6 cents per mile. They also received upon delivery $2 for each summons or prisoner delivered. This was for dangerous, hard work. The court paid for the cost of transporting prisoners, that transport being a prisoner wagon accompanied by a chuck wagon with a cook, drivers for the wagons and extra mules and horses. It may have been led by one deputy or several.

These wagons were nicknamed "tumbleweed wagons" because they seemed to aimlessly meander across the prairie from area to area to collect their prisoners. Their tour took two to three months. Prisoners were chained to the floor of the wagon. When they set up camp for the night they were chained to a tree or wagon wheel. They created quite a spectacle as they passed through towns. Crowds formed to watch the parade make it's way through town.

The marshals were fearless men, quick with a gun and capable of handling the worst of riff-raff. They had to be to survive against robbers, murderers, rapists, rustlers and whiskey peddlers Some of the criminals they brought in would kill for the gold in your teeth.

Judge Parker didn't believe in the old saying--"bring them in dead or alive." He wanted them to have a trial and let him, the judge, decide their sentence and he was very equal  in his justice. He only hung one woman and the races were equally divided by thirds--whites, blacks and Indians. During his appointment, he tried over 17,000 cases and of those sentenced 1/10 of 1 percent were sent to the gallows. Parker felt so strongly about the criminals having a right to be heard, if a Deputy Marshal killed a prison in transit, he had to pay for the prisoner's funeral, casket, and headstone. The cost was close to $60 which was hard earned on 6 cents and $2 per summons.

References:
http://www.okgenweb.org/~okmurray/Murray/stories/tumbleweed_wagons.htm (Contributed by Dennis Muncrief - November, 2003)
http://www.rootweb.ancestory.com/~okmurray/stories/deputy_marshal.htm

Happy Reading and Writing!
Linda

U.S. Marshal History by Paty Jager

U.S. Marshals have had a presence in the United States since 1789. While most people think of U.S. Marshals as the gun toting images seen in movies and depicted in books, the first marshals were created by the first Congress of the United States to carry out all lawful orders issued but judges, Congress, or the president.  They were limited to a four year renewable term or could be replaced by the president whenever he chose.

Marshals hired their own deputies from their judicial districts so keep close ties and credibility with the community.

This is the summary or the original mandate for a U.S. Marshal as published in The Lawmen by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1989:

“The primary function of the marshals was to support the federal courts. They served the subpoenas, summonses, writes, warrants, and other process issued by the courts; made all the arrests; and handled all the prisoners. They also disbursed the money, paying the fees and expenses of the court clerks, U.S. attorneys, jurors, and witnesses. They rented the courtrooms and jail space and hired the bailiffs, criers, and janitors. “

Not only did they carry out the above jobs, they also took the national census every decade from 1790 – 1870. Another job was distributing presidential proclamations, collected statistics on commerce and industry, registered enemy aliens during wartime, exchanged spies and prisoners of war with foreign countries.  They were the government’s civilian police power.

When the 20- year ban on African Slave trade ran out in 1808 and it was made a capital crime in 1819 the U.S. Marshals found themselves with even more work. The marshals in the North captured fugitive slaves and returned them, often against violent opposition and the marshals in the South tried to stop the slave trade amidst anger and resentment.

At the beginning of the Civil war most U.S. marshals in the Southern judicial districts resigned and marshals in the Western states and territories struggled t  keep the secessionist movements from tearing more states from the union. After the war, the marshals mad mass arrests of Klansmen.

As the population moved west so did the U.S. Marshal. In this vast sparsely populated area and unorganized territories, they weren’t the only peace officers, but because they were representatives of the federal government they held the highest rank.   The local authorities took care of most of the local altercations but if the federal mail was robbed during train and stagecoach hold ups they were brought in to help capture the outlaws.

During the 1870’s 200 deputy marshals patrolled 74,000 square miles of Indian Territory. This is a list of the problems they were to deal with:

“U.S. Marshals for the Western District of Arkansas may make arrests for: murder, manslaughter, assault with intent to kill or toe maim, attempts to murder, arson, robbery, rape, bribery, burglary, larceny, incest, adultery…these arrests may be made with or without warrant first issued and in the hands of the Deputy or the Chief Marshal…For violations of the revenue law and for introducing ardent spirits into the Indian Country, the Deputy cannot make an arrest without warrant unless the offender is caught in the act.”

Marshals did not shoot to kill or travel with large posses. They went out “on the scout” in groups of four or five with a wagon they used as a jail on wheels. They looked for stolen horses, suspicious travelers, stills and contraband whiskey and wanted men.

They received $.06 a mile traveled and $2 per arrest. They were lucky if they made $500 a year. Trying to bring their prisoners back to Fort Smith for trial was sometimes thwarted by the prisoners friends and relatives.

This was information I found in The History of the U.S. Marshal by Robin Langley Sommer when I was researching for my book Improper Pinkerton.

Blurb:

An impetuous Pinkerton agent is out to prove to a righteous US Marshal that she's the best "man" to complete the assignment and the only "woman" who can capture his heart.

Mae Simon is on her first assignment as a Pinkerton operative and determined nothing will stand in her way of accomplishing her task. When the simple assignment turns into a murder and kidnapping, she has to stop hiding behind her disguises and trust a man she’s betrayed.

U. S. Marshal Beck Harlan can’t afford to befriend anyone. Not with a vengeance seeking outlaw killing off his intimate acquaintances. Yet, he falls hard for the French prostitute he talks into being an informant, not realizing she is a Pinkerton operative after the same man.

Link:  http://patyjager.net/Improper_Pinkerton.html

Website: http://www.patyjager.net

Blog: http://www.patyjager.blogspot.com

THE YOUNGEST COWBOYS

In the summer of 1909, two young brothers under the age of ten set out to make their own “cowboy dreams” come true. They rode across two states on horseback. Alone.

It’s a story that sounds too unbelievable to be true, but it is.

Oklahoma had been a state not quite two years when these young long riders undertook the adventure of a lifetime. The brothers, Bud (Louis), and Temple Abernathy rode from their Tillman County ranch in the southwest corner of the state to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bud was nine years old, and Temple was five.

They were the sons of a U.S. Marshal, Jack Abernathy, who had the particular talent of catching wolves and coyotes alive, earning him the nickname “Catch ’Em Alive Jack.”

Odd as it seems to us today, Jack Abernathy had unwavering faith in his two young sons’ survival skills. Their mother had died the year before, and, as young boys will, they had developed a wanderlust listening to their father’s stories.

Jack agreed to let them undertake the journey, Bud riding Sam Bass (Jack’s own Arabian that he used chase wolves down with) and Temple riding Geronimo, a half-Shetland pony. There were four rules the boys had to agree to: Never to ride more than fifty miles a day unless seeking food or shelter; never to cross a creek unless they could see the bottom of it or have a guide with them; never to carry more than five dollars at a time; and no riding on Sunday.

The jaunt into New Mexico to visit their father’s friend, governor George Curry, took them six weeks. Along the way, they were escorted by a band of outlaws for many miles to ensure their safe passage. The boys didn’t realize they were outlaws until later, when the men wrote to Abernathy telling him they didn’t respect him because he was a marshal. But, in the letter, they wrote they “liked what those boys were made of.”

One year later, they set out on the trip that made them famous. At ten and six, the boys rode from their Cross Roads Ranch in Frederick, Oklahoma, to New York City to meet their friend, former president Theodore Roosevelt, on his return from an African safari. They set out on April 5, 1910, riding for two months.

Along the way, they were greeted in every major city, being feted at dinners and amusement parks, given automobile rides, and even an aeroplane ride by Wilbur Wright in Dayton, Ohio.

Their trip to New York City went as planned, but they had to buy a new horse to replace Geronimo. While they were there, he had gotten loose in a field of clover and nearly foundered, and had to be shipped home by train.

They traveled on to Washington, D.C., and met with President Taft and other politicians.

It was on this trip that the brothers decided they needed an automobile of their own. They had fallen in love with the new mode of transportation, and they convinced their father to buy a Brush runabout. After practicing for a few hours in New York, they headed for Oklahoma—Bud drove, and Temple was the mechanic.

They arrived safe and sound back in Oklahoma in only 23 days.

But their adventures weren’t over. The next year, they were challenged to ride from New York City to San Francisco. If they could make it in 60 days, they would win $10,000. Due to some bad weather along the 3,619-mile-long trip, they missed the deadline by only two days. Still, they broke a record—and that record of 62 days still stands, nearly one hundred years later.

The boys’ last cross country trip was made in 1913 driving a custom designed, two-seat motorcycle from their Cross Roads Ranch to New York City. They returned to Oklahoma by train.

As adults, Temple became an oilman, and Bud became a lawyer. There is a statue that commemorates the youngest long riders ever in their hometown of Frederick, Oklahoma, on the lawn of the Tillman County Courthouse.