One day, when Willis, Lila and I were children and visiting Grandpa and Grandma Caywood, we got permission to hook Ole’ Knot up to Grandpa’s old buggy for a ride in the pasture. We rode around having a lot of fun, when suddenly, Knot got spooked by something. He took off in a dead run with the buggy and us in tow. Willis jumped off, and told Lila and I to jump too, but we were too afraid to jump and hung on to the buggy for dear life. We rode out the frightening ride over the hills and bumps that made us airborne at times. Willis ran after us trying to get Knot to stop by yelling “whoa”. We were so afraid the buggy would overturn at any time. Knot finally stopped running and Willis got him settled down. We drove back to the house, never riding the old buggy again, nor ever wanting to ride it again, especially with Knot at the end of the reins.

A few years later, Grandpa gave Ole' Knot to Daddy and Mama. He was still stubborn as well as older than the other horses. I am sure that is why Grandpa gave him to them. One always needed another horse to rest another working horse during a day’s work

Ole' Knot was not one who liked to work in the field. He looked for any excuse he could to stop work. Dad always talked to his horses as well as giving them commands. One day, Dad had Ole' Knot hooked up to a field implement and was working a field when Dad uttered something using the word "go". Knot thought that the command sounded like "Whoa". Ole’ Knot stopped dead in his tracks almost making Daddy spill forward. Dad regained his seating and commanded the horses to go on. Dad, still upset at Ole' Knot, raised his voice and said "Ya derned old fool, I said go, not whoa"! You guessed it…. Ole’ Knot jolted again to a complete halt. By then, Dad saw the humor of the situation and had to laugh after he picked himself up.

Mama and Daddy sold Knot to a neighbor after telling them he was old and stubborn. One day, a few years later as Mama visited her sister Myrtle, she passed the field where she saw the neighbor working Knot much too hard. It nearly broke her heart. Mama always worried about animals being worked too hard. She told Daddy she regretted their decision to sell him and wished they had just put him out to pasture for the remainder of his years. Ole’ Knot lived to be 17 years old.