This is not what you're probably thinking. It's about one of the most intelligent horses I ever met. One of my uncles took grandpa to the "trading grounds' in Middlesboro, Ky one Saturday back around 1943  looking for a good work horse. A lot of trading, selling & horse swapping took place out on the grounds away from the auction. This was finally abolished because the auction was losing money. Someone from Lexington brought several race horses in that weren't up to par on the track. While unloading them grandpa spotted a beautiful young stallion. While looking him over the horse took to grandpa like a puppy. Grandpa wasn't impressed with race horses but this one was young & stout looking. Somewhat reluctantly, he bought the nag. Looking at his papers it said his name was Black Scott. To grandpa it was just Scott. He was a powerful built horse for a race horse. .......After bringing him home a lot was discovered about him. He was obviously extremely intelligent & a people horse. He followed grandpa around like the old border collie. Had to watch everything grandpa did like an 8 year old boy. Saddling & riding him was no problem at all. In a saddle gait he rode like a limousine. Absolutely great. We ciphered a harness would be an entirely different matter. When grandpa harnessed him up he turned his head & looked at it like he was wondering what kind of saddle it was. My uncle hooked him to a little hillside turning plow in a small lot by the barn. Scott looked back at the contraption behind him. Uncle Doug tole him to move & he started fine but the plow digging in staggered him. Again he looked back at the plow as uncle Doug told him to move. He leaned into the collar & didn't stop till he bumped into the fence at the end of the lot. Uncle turned him & flipped the moldboard. The sucker followed the furrow back like he had been doing it all his life. Everyone watching just stood & looked at each other. Nobody could say a word. The horse was a natural. It was absolutely amazing. All grandpa could do was smile. A 3 year old stallion, never in a harness & working like  a pro. I don't remember how long grandpa kept him but at least 8 years. ........From then on if grandpa was out where the horse could get to him you would see an old white haired man , a big black stallion & a border collie together. They were inseparable. ......I'll tell you more later after I rest my eyes. ......Paul H   ......Well, I don't know what's going on with my pictures .:cens:

Sometimes animals sure surprise you!

The quality of the pictures leave something to be desired but I'm not apologizing. You can't expect too much from a redneck with a 4 dollar Brownie three quarters of a century ago. We never heard of color film back then. Modern technology allows for adding color & enhancing pictures but the process is foreign to me. I'm not gonna learn how it's done either. At my age I have more important things to do, like taking a nap. ......Scott was very intelligent. One day grandpa found him in the front yard. It was fenced in & the gate was closed. Grandpa put him back out & checked the fence. Nothing amiss there. The gate to the yard was made of heavy rough cut lumber & had a third post inside with a chain running from the top to the top of the gate with a weight on it. One could just push the gate open & walk out & the weight pulled the gate closed. Grandpa watched a while & Scott walked up to the gate & hooked his chin over the top & pulled it open & walked in. Grandpa then got his tools out & made a sliding  bolt latch with a peg thru it so it could be opened from either side. Of course Scott stood there watching the process. When grandpa finished he tried the latch a couple times to make sure it worked properly. He was satisfied & picked up his tools & walked around the house to his tool shed to put them away. On the way back around the house he met Scott looking for him. He nearly fainted. The latch was open on the gate. He put Scott back out & latched the gate. He sat on the porch a few minutes & watched as Scott came to the gate, slid the bolt latch back with his nose hooked his chin over the gate,  opened it & walked in.  .......Paul H

You have nothing to apologize for Paul, pictures are great! I bet grandpa was lucky that Scott did not want to sleep in the same bed...

The pictures are perfect!

Thanks guy's. To me the pictures are really bad. One really odd thing about Scott was he loved girls & babies. Actually he loved everyone except one of my  great uncles on my mothers side of the family. I could never understand that. The uncle in question wasn't very well liked by anyone. Maybe his wife. Grandma & grandpa had a family reunion around August every year with relatives & friends coming from Michigan, I'll. , Wisconsin, Fla. or wherever they lived. Over 100 people sometimes. During the reunion Scott was as much a part as anyone 3else. Mostly he was kept out of the yard but with so many people they were all over the place. Barn, wood shed, smoke house, outhouse or wherever. You could find Scott wherever there was kids. He was very careful not to step on one. He nuzzled & slobbered on every kid & baby he found. He was nothing but a ham & liked having his picture taken. The aunt in the picture with him never liked horses or mules, not to mention grandpa's oxen but loved Scott. Besides all the kids Scott loved eating the watermelon rinds, cake, pies, cooked green beans & whatever the kids fed him. The attached picture is the aunt that liked Scott. The picture was taken on her 100th birthday. ......Paul H

Fantastic!!!!! Beautiful lady.

The pictures are great and it's a great story. You're so fortunate to have those pieces of your family history.

Bug, my family history is a mess. I'm sure my DNA couldn't be traced to anything. Back in the 1800's & early 1900's all travel in the holler was on foot or horseback. Only dirt roads or trails existed. A lot of those were creek beds or old buffalo trails. Even today a lot of rural blacktopped roads all over the state originated as buffalo trails. Travel back in early days was difficult & the locals married locals. I suspect half of them married  cousins. I know at least 75% of the population were related. For example, around the time grandpa married grandma, two of his brothers married two of grandma's sisters. I suppose you could call it keeping it in the family. Love was scarce. One of my cousins married his double first cousin. Figure that one out. The Census Bureau & the IRS gave up. One of my sisters has traced many of our ancestors & we came to the deduction we're composed of Irish, Scotch, English & Cherokee with Scottish & English being the dominant factor. The Scottish made up about half the population up until around the late 1960's. when the state built a road. Now there's all sorts of trash living there. The place has gone to :cens: The woman in the picture is one of my Cherokee ancestors.  ......Paul H