ANIMAL TALK: Horsing Around, but not on the porch

Meeting, feeding and treating Major, the Horse with a Lot of Sense | march16,2023

‘Major Makes His Move.’ | Colorized photo from Thestoryisthething.com | August 2019

---

By Douglas John Imbrogno | In the weeks ahead, we’ll be rolling out podcasts and videos on ‘TheHartoftheMatter’ from a recent four-day oral history meetup with Mister Hart. Meanwhile, below is older footage featuring one of Bill’s dear horse friends and his general horse-whispering, a talent the former Coast Guardsman honed once he got himself into the Appalachian hills, leaving watery oceans behind for a life amid West Virginia’s oceanic mountains. Through the decades, he has raised, tamed, and shared his life with some notable equines. Among them is this guy, Major, who we previously ID’ed as ‘The Most Self Aware Equine in All of West Virginia.” Here’s a multimedia gallery, documenting some moments in Major and Bill’s lives together.

---

VIDEO: A Major Search Party

SOMETIMES, THE STAR isn’t ready for his closeup. All is not lost, as this Major search party in August 2017 yields no Major, at least for the moment. But you’ll get a brief, enlightening seminar from Bill in the construction of a classic Appalachian hay barn, one made with wormy chestnut—therein lies an environmental backstory.

---

PHOTO: Here’s Looking At You

HERE, MAJOR IS READY FOR HIS CLOSEUP, in a 2016 shot from the session with him that resulted in the crunchy video at the bottom of the page. | TheStoryIsTheThing.com photo

---

VIDEO: ‘Porch Pony Wannabe’

HERE IS WHAT LIFE in the Appalachian outback looks like when you have a cheerful, gregarious horse. One who thinks that since the human beings are on the porch, well, then … he, by gawd, should be on the porch.

---

PHOTO: A Major Moment

MAJOR FIXES HIS HAIR beneath a tree in this August 2019 photo. | TheStoryIsTheThing.com photo

---

Crunch Time

MAJOR STARS IN THIS VIDEO, published online at The Charleston Gazette-Mail on Oct. 23, 2016, as part of a “100 Seconds” video series we produced (which was the length of the videos). It’s about exactly what the title says: “What To Do With a Bag of Carrots.” Always a handsome attraction, Major attracted a bunch of kids visiting family the day I shot this. But I kept the camera on the key relationship between Major and the visiting carrots. (You can see Bill farming out some of the treats.) Below is a shot from the video of Major in all his speckled glory. PS: The soundtrack is an original electronic piece titled “Centerall” by Lucas the Flow, featuring N8.