I would imagine he didn't get the family to town very quickly, but the three-legged colt belonging to William Lair, of Princeville, Illinois must certainly have caused quite a stir in the small town. I wasn't terribly surprised to find this postcard in a large and dusty collection of old postcards kept over the years by my great-grandmother's family, but what did surprise me was finding two other copies of it on eBay!
William Lair was the younger brother of my gr-gr-gr grandfather, Lawson Lair. William spent the bulk of his life in the Princeville area, working as a farmhand until his enlistment in the Civil War. Described as nearly 6'2", with dark hair and gray eyes, he and twelve of his comrades were known as the "Lucky Thirteen" - all local boys who fought in the war and returned to their homes and families; William had served three years, and then re-enlisted as a veteran. After his return to Princeville, he married Susan Hammer Givens, a widow with a young daughter. In addition to this girl, he and Susan took in a boy in need of a home.
Despite being one of the "Lucky Thirteen," William was not quite as "lucky" as the name implies. His health suffered greatly from his years of service in harsh conditions, often spending days at a time in dark, cold marshes, breathing less than the purest of air. William's lungs were never the same after his service, and this "lung disease" eventually took his life twelve years after his military discharge, at the young age of 35.
I have often wondered what became of this "famous" three-legged horse, and why so many pictures of it have survived the ~140 years since this photo was taken.
If you ever find out what happened to the horse, please post; I'm curious now, too!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog through a link. And I have enjoyed very much reading your stories. You have a great gift for writing. I'll be back.
ReplyDeleteNancy Hurley
I'm also wondering what happened to make him three-legged? It's amazing he survived.
ReplyDeleteNewsflash on the Three-Legged Horse of William Lair... my mother said she always heard the horse was born that way, and that they traveled around to fairs with it, which could explain why there were so many postcards made. Souvenirs, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly doesn't look like he has any scarring to suggest it was removed.wonder how the farrier got on with him?! ��
ReplyDeleteI cant see any scarring, looks quite 'normal' for him. Farrier can't have found it easy tending to him! 🤔
ReplyDeleteThis a very old post - but for some reason it's found it's way onto social media. I can answer your question; "why so many pictures of the three-legged horse have survived". It's because this is the very earliest days of photography and mass produced printing. It was popular for stallholders to make a lot of these entertaining or Intriguing images and sell them as collector's items at fairs or conventions, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is a video about Rocky boen with 3 legs. He lives at a rescue and id do great with excellent care.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/share/r/1K6P3aGG1P/
About Rocky horse born with 3 legs.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest question people ask about Rocky is how we will be able to trim his feet in the future.
Rocky has been trained to lay down for his hoof trims since he was a week old. As you can see, it’s a calm process and he’s basically napping during it. We typically just have one person placed on the other side to give him scratches during it and that keeps him happy and laying down until Dr L is finished. He doesnt try to get up usually until shes finished and this is a testiment to his wise beyond his years demeanor. His friends usually attend because they are nosy and you can see a couple fo them in the background as they all know the drill too lol! We chose to have our vet trim his feet vs one of our farriers, not that they are not amazing, but it’s just so important that she’s assessing and making sure his front leg is in the best shape possible and this is a great time to do so. She’s trimmed just the most minuscule amount every two weeks and by doing so has been able to greatly improve the angle which wasn’t where we needed it to be due to lax tendons at birth. This is common in foals even born with all 4 legs and we do the same thing with them. By taking off a tiny amount every two weeks, the angle is able to be corrected without a big change at once and this allows the lax tendons to strengthen, as well as prevents pain and discomfort from having to adjust to big change in the angle. We all love this time with Rocky and I’m always a little sad when I’m not able to be there to give him the scratches during it but thankful everyone here loves him so much and tries so hard for him on a daily basis ❤️.