In the spring of 1997, a special filly was born to a gorgeous but crippled mare on the Moore’s Farm. One wouldn’t think just by looking at her then that she would be so special or affect so many lives, but she did all of these things and so much more before she joined her beloved sister, Dixie up in heaven. Larry, Bonnie and Allen Moore had one of the best horse farms around and were some of the best horse people period.
Scooter soon set herself apart, but not in a way that she later would. She would fly backward while tied to just about anything, hitching posts, trailers, cross ties, and anything else for no reason at all. She busted lead ropes, lariats (made up in halter fashion), cotton ropes, you name it, she busted it. She had our trailer rocking many times while being tied to it. And when Scooter flew backward, her sister followed suit, not as destructively or dramatically, but it made for a hectic time. When we got her from the Moore Farm, it took three days to load her. She was so good we willingly put up with all her quirks. She hated horseflies, you would see her out in the field rivaling the world’s best bucking horse trying to get one off of her. She absolutely deplored hail and cold rain, so she expected to be let in the barn when it did. She had a certain number of loops she would have to complete before she would come in the barn for feed and it didn’t matter how long you had to wait. She had a grass belly most of the time, so we had to bring her in the barn a day or so ahead of an event.
Scooter was without a doubt one of the best barrel horses that walked the earth. I always said that she could run a barrel pattern on the moon, and she also was first-rate in pole bending as well. Her pole bends were sheer perfection. Although sometimes her long and luxurious tail wrapped around a pole and pulled it over, but even that wasn’t often, as she figured out a way for that not to happen. My daughter Hannah started her, but she swapped for Scooter’s sister Dixie, which was an inspired choice as Dixie and Hannah were a match made in heaven. Before Hannah, she had very minimal riding. She was quite green in fact. During her training, she (Scooter) was so intense, I decided to give her a year off. She was fast on her way to a major blow-up. When her sabbatical was over, she was sheer perfection. She was dynamic. She would stand a watch all of the other horses run and adjust her run accordingly to win.
At practice one time, she fell down at the first barrel. She got up, minus her rider and completed the pattern perfectly, then she trotted back and checked on her rider. At one competition a couple of sweet old ladies (who I’m pretty sure were the organizers of the event) politely asked if we were going to come back and paint the barrels. There was a photographer who was so impressed with Scooter that he would follow her to any competition she was in and pleaded with us to go to his neck of the woods with her because nobody believed him about just how good she was. That same photographer traveled many miles to be at her retirement ceremony when she turned 13.
To indulge some friends, as a matter of fact, the Moore’s whom we got Scooter from, we took her to a cattle penning. She had never done anything remotely resembling that, but we gave it a try to please our friends. Between the three of us, we did an amazingly good job. It went faster and smoother than a shot of brandy. I got so caught up in watching the poetry of Scooter and her rider and Larry Moore sorting and shooting the cattle that I let one by, so we didn’t win. However, it did show that Scooter’s talents are varied and she excelled at anything she did, prior experience or no prior experience. She would have made a superior cutting horse, but at that time cutting was not in our interest. Her topside was Cutter Bill, so really it shouldn’t have been such a surprise.
She was one of the most amazing and honest horses. You never had to egg her on to do her best, she willingly ran her heart out each and every time because she loved what she did and she loved us. At one event, the organizers were so sick of her winning that they said “the timer malfunctioned” three times in a row (lies or since I call it like I see it just plain old cheating) I happen to carry my own stopwatch. she ran back to back three times in a row without a break and never lost a second, not one second! After that, I put a stop to that, she didn’t win, due to cheating, but she made her point to any and all watching. The height of her career was before videoing on phones was done, so I don’t believe there are any videos of her that I’m aware of. Although she made the paper once.
She won so many championships it is staggering, including a good many state championships. There weren’t many reserve championships, as she didn’t do second place. Anything less than first place was not her fault. One time when I was out of town when the State Awards Banquet was happening, my daughters Hannah and Hattie went to pick up the awards for us, they were quite busy taking turns gathering awards. The sweet ol’ southern belle who was officiating the banquet said in her sweet southern drawl, “Honey, do you need a box?” The crowd got a laugh.
One season, Scooter acted a little sore at an event, so we took the next week off. When the following weekend rolled around she drug her rider to the trailer. Another time when she was feeling contrary, she was refusing to load, and we were running late. I saw her look and my son (around nine years old at the time), so he took the lead rope and she loaded easy as you please for him. I didn’t really feel good about it, because she was one high test horse, but she never harmed anyone on purpose. Besides trying to step on your feet when you led her, which she did with regularity. She also liked to walk ahead of whoever led her.
Scooter loved hanging her head out the window as we headed down the road. I didn’t really feel good about that either, but she loved doing it so much I didn’t have the heart to refuse her. Another of her quirks was that she would not pee at a show, she would wait until she was on the trailer. She would not drink city water, so we had to always have some well water for her to drink. I can honestly say that she never lost a competition done fairly, at least she was never at fault when she did not win, which was very rare indeed.
She was not a boss mare, but she wasn’t a pushover either. She knew what she knew and didn’t suffer fools gladly. I walked many miles cooling her out. She had a level of dedication that I don’t think I will ever see matched. I have tried to make people understand that her death is the end of an era. People don’t understand the love, the blood, the sweat, the frustration, the tears, the dedication and so many other things that go into each and every win.
Her death rocked our world. Only the fact that she is up in heaven with her most beloved sister keeps us from completely falling apart. Many might not comprehend this, but she was a beloved member of the family. There is nothing to match the love and loyalty shown every time she ran her heart out for us & made it look easy, every time she came running at feed time when we whistled, every time she willingly did what we requested even though she knew better and every time she submitted to our loving on her even though she didn’t hold with such things. Thank God we have her daughter, which is the spitting image of her, minus the star on her forehead. Nothing will ever replace or come even close to her. We love her. She’s getting some well-earned rest. We thank God that we were blessed with her and you put our farm on the map, darling Scooter. We Thank the Lord, the Moore Family, and Scooter for all that they’ve done for us. You, my dear girl, are a hero. God is good!!!
