I was looking for a special horse. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for but I was confident that I would know it when I saw it.

I was planning a trip from my home in Sedalia Missouri to my mom's house in Jackson Alabama and I was going to try to make the 1,000 mile trip on a horse.

I had already sold the three horses that I owned because none of them were the right horse for such an undertaking. One was too old, one too young and one still had panic attacks when the unexpected happened. After looking at several horses that were for sale over a period of a couple of weeks, and not finding in any of them what I was looking for, I answered an ad in the Kansas City Star for a horse in Platte City, about a hundred miles away.

The ad said that the horse for sale was a six year old registered appaloosa gelding, sound and strong. I threw my saddle in the back of my truck and headed for Platte City.

When I saw L.D.S Red Pepper I was sure that I had found my horse. He was not too big, a little over 14.2 hands, well muscled and compact. He looked like an easy keeper, with big spots over his quarter horse looking rear end and a refined intelligent looking head; unusual for an appaloosa in those days. When I rode him I could tell that this boy was no stranger to a saddle and bridle and while I was taking my saddle off Mr. Jackson told me the story.

He informed me that this horse had been either ridden or round penned almost every day of his adult life because you couldn't keep him in a pasture. He had to be kept in a stall because four foot fences were no more of an obstacle to him than a cow patty in his path. "He walks up to them and hops over them like a deer" he told me. But if I wanted him he would make me a real good deal on a real nice horse.

I rented two stalls at the race horse barn on the Missouri State Fair Grounds. One was for Pepper and I moved my saddle and gear and bedroll into the stall next door. I rode him twice a day, trimming his bridle path and muzzle, and put new shoes on him. This horse and I needed to bond in a hurry and it seemed that we were. He was easy going and socialable even when I was teaching him to move his hindquarters off the spurs. Nothing seemed to upset him and the more I rode him the more I liked him.

On the third day at the fairgrounds, I left to go eat lunch and buy some horse feed and salt for Pepper. When I returned the barn manager and one of my fellow boarders met me at the gate. The barn manager told me that apparently my horse had reached over the door and unlatched his stall door and was running loose. He said that he and several other people had been trying to catch him, but he kept running away from them. Now, they did not even know where he was.

I took the halter from the manager and told him not to worry that I would catch him if it took all day. I drove around the grounds until I finally found my horse grazing contently near the bleachers at the baseball diamond. I was within about fifty feet of him before Pepper raised his head and when he did I stopped. I don’t usually talk to horses but this time I spoke as if I were talking to a person. I told him "Boy you are at a crossroads in your life. If you run way from me you are going to the sale barn Thursday night or if you let me put this halter on you I'll take you on the darndest adventure you ever saw".

Pepper never moved a hair as I walked up and put my hand on his neck. When he lowered his head he put his nose in my hand. I lead him back to his stall and secured the latch with a padlock and went about making preparations to keep my promise.