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My horse, Dudley, who is now 20 years old and for 12 of those years I have been ever so lucky to call him my own. When I first got him when I was 10 years old, he was the most amazing horse I have ever ridden! He was a wild man, when I first got him, but now over the years he has really gotten into his element. His great grandfather is none other than the great Man O' War. Which I swear is where my 15 hand sorrel quarter horse gets his massive stride from. I used to show hunter/jumpers with all those tall thoroughbreds and warmbloods who would just tower over us! But after they would go in that arena and knock over poles. My little 15 hand quarter horse would show them how it is really done. For a short guy he sure can jump. I can not tell you how many times he has shown up a tall warmblood in jumping, even a horse that is half his age! Still at the age of 20, he can clear over 4 feet. Which is amazing. But the greatest story about him, and probably the greatest horse story I have ever heard of happened shortly after I had a horse accident.

My junior year in high school I had a serious horse accident, the mare I was riding got spooked, reared straight up and then lost her balance and came falling backwards on me. This mare that I was riding was a horse I have had since she was a weanling, and her and Dudley were best friends. Well until that day. She broke my hip in three places, and I was airlifted to a major hospital to see a specialist. There i spent 2 weeks in intensive care. When I finally was able to come home, I had to use a motorized wheel-chair, so I could go visit all my horses and outside pets. When Dudley saw me in the wheelchair he knew something was seriously wrong. At the time we had him paired up with the mare who had hurt me, because they were pretty much girlfriend and boyfriend. After I went into the house and lay down, because I was exhausted from sitting up that long. My mom came rushing in, and said you need to come out and look at Babe, the mare who fell on top of me. So I got back on my wheelchair, and zoomed out to her lot, only to find her in the back corner of the lot shaking. And Dudley standing close to the fence, looking all innocent. She had bite marks over every inch of her body, and hoof prints on her sides and chest. The only other horse in with her was Dudley, and I just couldn't see him hurting a fly. That was until we went into the house and watched him from the window. That is when I saw the most shocking thing ever, Dudley was going after her, and literally beating her up, constantly kicking and biting her, and not showing any sign of stopping. We had to separate them, because he just would not stop beating her up, well unless we were standing out there watching him.

I always knew that Dudley was protective over me, but I never knew that he would go after a horse that he really loved, because she had hurt me. But it was like he was punishing her for hurting me. And his lot over looks the area where she fell on top of me. My mom thinks he must have seen it all, and just got really upset. But that is why I think he is the greatest horse of all time. Not only is he good to me when I ride him, but he watches over me, and makes sure that nothing happens. And since my accident, he has never once refused a fence, or done anything that would make me fall off balance or even fall off. It is almost like he knows that I still am in pain, and he just wants to make sure that I stay healthy.

Now, if that isn't a great horse, then I really don't know what is.

Learn more about this author, Jenilee Johnson.
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