She LOVES it, flea. She loves how different it is, and she likes Charlotte and Sarah the best, because Charlotte is her age, and Sarah for the name.

The dusting/button game fascinated her.

::Pulling out my copy of These Happy Golden Years::

Well, there were the unnamed brown colts she helped him break so he could resell them for a profit. Best quote about them: "I am afraid to have you ride behind those horses," Ma said as Laura came in. Pa looked up from his paper. "Does seem like Wilder is trying to get you killed. But I'd say you are enjoying it the way your eyes are shining," he added.

Actually, no, the best quote about the colts was this:

[Laura said,] "I never rode in a lazy-back buggy before. The back isn't quite as high as the plain wooden ones, is it?"
"Maybe this will make it better," Almanzo said, laying his arm along the top of the back. He was not exactly hugging Laura, but his arm was against her shoulders. She shrugged, but his arm did not move away. So she leaned forward, and shook the buggy whip where it stood in the whipsocket on the dashboard. The colts jumped forward and broke into a run.
"You little devil!" Almanzo exclaimed, as he closed his hands on the lines and braced his feet. He needed both hands to control those colts.
After a time the colts were calmer and quieter, trotting again.
"Suppose they had run away?" Almanzo then asked her indignantly.
"They would run a long way before they came to the end of the prairie," Laura laughed. "And there's nothing to run against between here and there."
"Just the same!" Almanzo began, and then he said, "You're independent, aren't you?"
"Yes," said Laura.

And I give a big cheer for Laura every time I read that.

His other team was Barnum and Skip. They were the wildest of the bunch, especially Barnum. But, the first time Barnum ever walked when he was hitched up to a buggy was when Laura was holding the reins, not Almanzo.

Again, I cheer every time I read that.

does this mean that Morgans go back to Friesans?

They sure have similar qualities. I wouldn't be surprised if someone's already done DNA testing on the breed. I know you can get your mutt dog analyzed.

We owned Black Gold and I'm sure I read it, I can picture our well-worn copy, but I can't remember what it's about.

Is King of the Wind the one about The Godolphin Arabian? I probably read that almost as much as Medecine Hat. It's a tie between that one and The White Stallion of Lippiza. I can vividly picture the nightmare image of the stallion pointing to his dragging back feet with his bony dream hands.

Skip and Barnum! That was it! Thanks, Kathy.

Is King of the Wind the one about The Godolphin Arabian?

Yes! And now I'm torn between checking it out of the library to see if I still like or just tracking down a copy and buying it. And the White Stallion we had in hardbound, and and I adored that book, too.

I'm a grown up, now, and I can buy kids books for myself all I want.

Don't know much about Morgans. Though I understand that Justin Morgan Had A Horse.

...but he wasn't called Bucephalus.

I loved Justin Morgan, too (I never knew it was also a movie!) I will go off about the awesomeness of morgans with very little notice. It's almost as bad as when I get started on percherons.

I went to UConn, where Justin Morgan was born and raised!

cool!

Black Gold is about Black Gold - who won the Kentucky Derby in 1923. He was sired by Black Toney (Col. Bradley named all his horses with "B" names) out of a mare called Useeit.