Find…

Her Name Used to Be “7”: Meet Magnolia the Pack Pony

Published July 19, 2004

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

Woody now has a pack pony.

Woody and Magnolia the pack pony foraging at the roadside, North Carolina, 2004 — Woody teaches his new charge the art of curbside foraging.

She’s black and white with one white eye and the other brown. Her name’s Magnolia.

Her name used to be “7” because there’s a white seven on her forehead. Yeah, other guys have horses with blazes, stars, and snips on their foreheads. Nope, not us. We’ve gotta have a pack pony with a digit on its face. Still, Maggie as I call her, lends our troupe a feminine, albeit lopsided air. Symmetry always bored me.

Did I mention she’s not real big?

Maggie’s smaller than Woody who stands a stumpy 14 and 1/2 hands. That’s horse speak for 57 1/2 inches (a hand is 4 inches). I suspect she’s in the thirteen-hand range. I’m still not brave enough to put the stick to her as I fear I’m being optimistic on her height. I’ll drink a hearty toast to Neptune if she hits 52 inches.

Who cares. She’s game, Woody loves her and I only load her with 48 pounds of gear (including saddle, pads, etc).

Now we are three.

More about riding Woody and Maggie from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Let's Keep in Touch

Sign up for The River, the RiverEarth newsletter, for occasional doses of rambling and homestead life. Plus you'll get a free copy of my 155-page illustrated ebook 19 Million Mule Steps.

Just enter your email below and hit Subscribe.