Part 2: Timing By Larisa Womack One afternoon as I watched them in the front pasture, I knew the time had come to re-home the horses. They were standing in the shade of a big oak tree in a pattern they frequented. All five lined up so they could swat the horse flies off each other with their tails. They looked miserable in the heat, and I knew there was nothing I could do to make them more comfortable. It was time to reconsider Blake’s offer. Moma had a hand in this decision. Exactly six months after she was gone, we were told the Teller family wanted all five horses, not just Lee and Annie. It was an unexpected but wonderful surprise. The following day, Father’s Day and also the Summer Solstice, our little horse family was relocated to a beautiful farm area twenty miles south of us on the Natchez Trace. Daddy had sold our trailer that was tall enough for Choctaw. It was a specially ordered trailer which is taller than most regular horse trailers. We didn’t have a truck big enough to pull it. John Horn, a cattleman who bales hay for us, took it off our hands. Daddy called John that Saturday afternoon and asked if he would come help relocate all the horses. John agreed to the fifty-mile round trip for two sets of horses. I am very grateful for his help, especially on such short notice. Although none of the horses had ridden in the trailer for years, I had no problem easing each one into it. It helped that it was a familiar trailer that they all had been in. Choctaw, Ginger, and Lee went on the first trip. They are the biggest and most dominant. Lastly were Mister, the meekest of the five, and Annie. They all traveled well and jumped off the trailer to join their herd. On the longest day of 2021, our horses joined a new loving family. I believe Moma definitely oversaw the whole experience. I know I did the right thing for them. The timing—Father’s Day, the Summer Solstice, and the fact that one family took all five horses to now live in an area known as the Valley of the Moon—just proves it was the right thing to do. Part 3: Hinds County—Joining Herds By Lindy Hunter Horses have always been a fixture in the Teller family. My two older brothers, Blake and Todd, and I grew up riding often
Bobby Hunter, Hayes Hunter, Hudson Hunter, Blake Teller, Stacey Teller, Lindy Hunter, and Helen Hunter
from the earliest age I can remember. I know my parents, Landy and Peggy Teller, grew up riding horses as well. We were raised in Vicksburg. My grandparents, Landman and Helen Teller, lived nearby; and when my brothers and I were very young, my grandfather would rent ponies every holiday for us to ride. We fell in love with riding. For years, my parents kept some horses on land known as Bamboo Farms in Warren County. That property was sold and became Turning Leaf subdivision. In the ‘90s, my grandfather had purchased what we call Lenland in Claiborne County. He named it Lenland by combining the last part of my grandmother’s name with the first part of his name. This property straddles the Natchez Trace at mile marker 45.5 at a popular tourist stop known as Grindstone Ford and Mangum Indian Mound. The horses were moved to Lenland where we have enjoyed riding ever since. Raising seven children with my husband Bobby out on the family property has been an amazing blessing. When my brother Blake told me of the opportunity to add to Lenland’s present horse herd of five, I was excited but apprehensive about combining the two herds. Whenever you introduce new horses to an established herd, you are sure to encounter much excitement. Expect the horses to run and bite and kick each other to form the hierarchy. We met Blake and his wife, Stacey, and my mother, at the Womacks’ home to meet what we now call the Hinds herd. We were all immediately endeared to the huge
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Percheron, Choctaw. I was still cautiously interested but not totally convinced about the merger. All the horses were beautiful. What sealed the deal in my mind was when they brought out a ladder and my eightyyear-old mother youthfully shimmied up the ladder and mounted Choctaw for a quick ride around the barn. It was a wonderful sight to see. Well, the new Hinds herd thankfully has mixed with the Claiborne herd with little fanfare. It seems that Choctaw, a gentle giant, has calmly made it clear to the Claiborne group that he would not allow any shenanigans. We have recently noticed many cars pulling off on the side of the Natchez Trace near mile marker 46 to watch the large herd grazing or running about, perhaps taking photographs with the picturesque white barn in the background. We are so very thankful and blessed to be the recipient of such a generous gift. We are looking forward to many years of enjoyment with our new Hinds horse family.
