Horses taught Florence Walrath as much as school had. They brought her confidence, skill and the opportunity to take responsibility and work hard, something she did all of her life. They also taught her bravery and decision-making. The journals are especially fascinating as they show the development of a human character, something many writers struggle quite hard to do. In our time, we are disconnected from the natural world, but rural life and animals shaped Florence’s strong values and confidence from her earliest years. Here, she tells of teaching at a girl’s camp, an experience that challenged her again and again and helped her to grow.
“Blanche met George Mason and married him, living in Cambridge where he had a drug store. About this time the girls’ camp was opened for the second year. Mrs. Powell asked Dad to rent her saddle horses so she could have riding at camp. So out we went to get safe horses for beginners. We started with ten. I was hired to teach riding. I had never done this before, but the man we bought some saddles from gave me some valuable tips. This worked out fine. First they ride western and later English. Some of the girls had never seen a horse and some at a distance. We had a few mishaps but no one hurt bad, mostly a scare. One day at the last of the season the girls asked if I would sign some papers for them. I said yes, but don’t bring them out. I ‘ll come to camp and sign all classes at the same time. The first two classes came without the papers, but the third class came with them. The horses were all standing in line up to the fence. I was riding a race horse and said all right, hand it up. The girl dropped it letting it flutter in front of the horse. I had my leg hooked over the horn of the saddle. He jumped up standing up so he put his feet over the horse beside him.
Dad tried to catch him but he ducked. He was running so fast I could not get my leg unhooked. He just missed a car setting there and was headed for a clothes line which I at once saw would drag me off as he went in under. I decided I better jump somehow, so I did. I landed flat on my back in front of the horse and he jumped me without touching me. The other horses got frightened and those that did not have anyone on them just started running. Some ran up the road, some down. A little girl who weighed about fifty pounds was riding my own horse.
The horse did not seem to know she had anyone on her back. I left my horse and ran to help her calling for her to pull the right rein. I could not get there in time to catch her so as a last effort I thru myself as a last chance to stop her. The horse turned and went back up to the gate. I was pretty lame but no bones broken and the girl had only a scare.
We also rented the horses to the Y.M.C.A. boys which had a camp at Cossayuna Lake. They came down twice a week in the afternoons. Sometimes there were twenty-five at a time. A truck load. I had to divide up the time so each boy sometimes only got ten minutes to ride. They rode mostly in the ring. I was keep so busy I never got to swim until dark. Some years we wintered over twenty-eight horses.”
Next. Loving to dance.