The Candy Horse
(Life As She Sees It)
by
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Oh! Mommie Mommie, Mommie! Now I know why the tears came to Helen ’s eyes when she told that Man and Lady and their daughter she would "sell "me to them. They came so often...I just thought it was lots of fun practicing my walk and trot for them. I can remember being actually glad when their daughter would go skipping past all the other stalls and stop in front of mine. She ’d say," Helen would you take Stick O Candy out and have her practice a little bit?" Helen would smile, and say "You like my Sticky-girl?" Then she ’d hug me...you know the way she does. Helen loved me so much. She loves you too, Mommie. Is your real name "Sweetie Pie "? Or is that just Helen ’s pet name for you. She’ll never sell you, Mommie...or Aunt Sugar...or Daddy-Gabbar! Gabbar ’s my daddy (sire) and Sweetie Pie ’s my mommie (dam)...how come he had more children (foals) than you do, Mommie? How come he ’s my Daddy and Puddin ’s Daddy, too! Did he marry Aunt Sugar at the same time he married you? Is Daddy a stallion? Is it a purebred Arabian stallion when you have to stay in a big box stall most of the time? And when you go outdoors you have to be all alone in a big paddock? Boy-oh-boy that Man and Lady and their Daughter sure thought Daddy-Gabbar was beautiful...and I do, too. Will I ever see Daddy again? Will I ever see you? Or Helen? Will I ever see anyone from home again? Now that I know what "sell "means...I wish I hadn’t been such a show-off. When Helen said, "Trot!" I should have planted all four feet on the ground and refused to budge. I should have laid back my ears, switched my tail around like mad. I should have switched my tail around and then glued it down to my fanny. Not me, though! I had to go and be a smart show-off." Sell "means people fall in love with you...they fall in love with you and before you can say Jack Robinson they have you stuffed into a box on wheels and you ’ve lost your happy home! Warn Puddin, Mommie! And warn Buggy! Tell them to act mean when strange people come to look at them. Tell them to make sure no strangers are watching them when they arch their tails and do the Arabian float. Too risky! People might fall in love with them like they did with me...and you know what that means...sell.
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About the Book
The Candy Horse, Life as She Sees It
Small farms are traded for large farms as the family becomes involved in the breeding of Arabian and part-Arabian horses. Stick O’Candy grows from a leggy filly to a U.S. National Champion half-Arabian Mare. The true story of Stick O’Candy and the other Candy horses is richly illustrated in 142 photographs.
About the Author
Dorothy began life as Dorothy Jane Saunders, born April 11, 1913 in Des Moines, Iowa. Her parents were David J. and Mary Jane Saunders, Jr., her siblings were Margarite, Marie, Marjorie, David J. III, Clyde, Frank. She grew up in and attended school in Des Moines and became interested in dance by age six. She was a student of Rose Lorenz. As a young woman, she toured the country in a dance troupes which performed with Eddie Foy, Jr., Jay C. Flippen and she was in Cab Calloway’s "Strike Me Pink". She was multi-talented, making many of her own costumes. She later decided to open a dance studio and teach dancing. During her search for a suitable place to hold dance classes she came upon the Hamilton Business College located in Mason City Iowa. The accounting teacher of the college, Mr. Robert W. Hamilton, greeted her there. They were instantly smitten and soon married. In 1940 they welcomed the addition of a baby girl, Jane Marie Hamilton, the future equestrian who would involve them with horses. Dorothy taught classes at the college and made the uniforms for the Hamilton Business College Girl Basketball Team, the Hamilton Red Raiders. Dorothy’s life was greatly changed by the addition of horses and she embraced it. The family’s interest in a riding horse for Jane grew into a large horse farm dedicated to the breeding and raising of fine show horses. The breeds selected were Arabian, American Saddlebred, Appaloosa, Shetland and Welsh Ponies. Dorothy applied her creative skills to the marketing of the show horses, from the making of show costumes and halters to the designing of the logo for the Candyhorse Farm. The horses were shown throughout the Midwest, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and New Mexico. Dorothy was a member of both the Iowa and Minnesota Arabian Horse Associations in the 1960’s. She attended classes on equine nutrition and management at the Iowa Agriculture Extension. She wrote publicity ads, gave interviews to the local press and produced two television specials with a local station, KGLO Channel 3 in Mason City Iowa. And through it all she wrote the tales of Stick O’Candy, which has become the book The Candy Horse. The Candyhorse Farm is still raising horses in Grand Ridge, Florida with Bob and Jane.