Chestnut Acres LLC

11/29/2025

One of our favorite places to shop! On line that is! 😊🐴

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 from our family to yours! May your table be bountiful this year and full of love, happiness, and good health.
Linn and I appreciate our owners, trainers, and friends for your patronage and trust in caring for your horses 🐴. Wishing you many blessings!

11/26/2025

A great read! Thanks for your service!! My dad was a veteran of the Korean War. 🐴🇺🇸

There once was a little mare.
Not a champion racehorse.
Not a pedigreed star.
Just a 13 hand Jeju pony from Korea.
Barely taller than a middle schooler.

Her Korean name was probably Ah Chim Hai.
Flame of the Morning.
Born around 1948.
Unraced.
Unremarkable.
Unknown.

Until a teenage stable boy sold her for 250 dollars.
Money raised by Marines who skipped meals and pooled poker winnings.

Why did he sell her?
So he could buy prosthetic legs for his sister.
A landmine had taken both of hers.

That is how an ordinary little mare fell into the hands of the United States Marine Corps.

And now…
the story really begins.
🐴🔥

She was bought to haul 75 millimeter recoilless rifle shells.
Up to 200 pounds at a time.
Up mountains where trucks could not go.
Into mud and ice and artillery.

The Marines called her Reckless.
But the name did not warn them.
It prepared them.

Because she learned faster than any horse they had ever seen.
Flattening herself in ditches when she heard incoming rounds.
Bolting for bunkers.
Halting mid trail when artillery whistled overhead.

She even learned to make the trips alone.
Two to three miles without a handler.
Carrying ammo up.
Bringing wounded Marines back down.
Instinct guiding her through fire and fear.

One day she stepped over a mine tripwire that should have killed her.
The Marines said it was luck.
Others said it was something else.

And now… the battle that made her legend.
🇺🇸🔥

Outpost Vegas.
March 1953.
A hill soaked in blood.
A battle so brutal that veterans still refused to talk about it.

Reckless made 51 trips up and down that hill in a single day.
Over 35 miles of open fire.
Machine guns.
Mortars.
A world screaming around her.

She carried 386 rounds.
Almost all the ammo the platoon fired.

Shrapnel tore her flank.
Another hit her hind leg.
She bled.
She staggered.
But she never stopped.

The Marines said she saved them from being overrun.
They said no human could have done what she did.

She earned two Purple Hearts.
A Presidential Unit Citation.
And eventually… a battlefield promotion.
Then another.
Sergeant Reckless.
The only animal promoted twice to staff sergeant.

Life Magazine called her America’s greatest war horse.

But Marines said something even better.
“She was one of us.”

Now… you might think you know the rest.
But Paul Harvey would smile here.
Because there is more.
🐴😄

Reckless loved beer.
Cold Falstaff or Coors.
Straight from the can.
She crashed officers’ parties.
Stole poker chips.
Chewed ci******es.
And once trotted away with an entire cherry pie board and all.

She curled up in foxholes.
Nuzzled wounded soldiers.
Became therapy on four hooves in a war almost everyone forgot.

After the war she returned home a hero.
She received parades.
She drank at the Bohemian Club.
She retired at Camp Pendleton.
She had foals.
Veterans visited her for years.
Some cried into her mane.

She passed in 1968.
Buried with honor.
Still loved.
Still remembered.

Later researchers like Janet Barrett spent twenty years collecting the real stories.
Sixty Marines.
Declassified files.
Old photos that had never been seen.
Interviews from Korea.
And a truth even more powerful than the legend.

Reckless was not born heroic.
She chose it.
Every day she carried weight that should have broken her.
Yet she lifted spirits instead.

Now you know the rest of the story.
And maybe now you understand why a little mare from Korea has six national monuments.
Why Marines still say her name with pride.
Why her story refuses to fade.

If you want the whole truth in all its grit and grace, read Janet Barrett’s book They Called Her Reckless or Robin Hutton’s Sgt. Reckless.

And if this story touched you, save it, follow for more, and share it so the world remembers the horse who outran bullets and never left a Marine behind.

Tag someone who needs a spark of hope today.
🐴❤️🇺🇸

11/19/2025

It is with an extremely sad heart 💔 that we announce the passing of one of our beloved Chestnut Acres boarders Georgie Boy. Georgie was owned his entire life by George Petredean. He lived out his final retirement years with us at Chestnut Acres with his buddy and brother Privateer. Georgie,nearing 24, was a beautiful grey Admirals Galley gelding who could be easily spotted on the farm. His racing career earned in excess of $50,000. Bart Stimer was his trainer
When his brother and lifelong companion Privateer passed away almost 6 months to the day—I told Linn Georgie probably won’t last long after loosing his friend. However he did find companionship for a short while before he became ill. We are thankful for all the support he received and that his owner was able to come for a final visit.

In George the owners words to me…
“It was a privilege to have you care for him these last 6 years…and providing the best care possible….”

It was our privilege at Chestnut Acres to care for Georgie he was a sweet gentleman.
Thank you to Dr Jason at Beadle Lake vet clinic, making an emergency call on Sunday—Morgan for your help to help us keep him comfortable, and our neighbor Jason. Thanks to Amanda and Don for checking up on us too And a big hug to Linn who stays up late and gets up early and misses work so I can go to work—and spends hours in the barn.
These older horses are tough to loose but I feel they know when their time has come…he went peacefully in his sleep.

Run free Georgie and I know Privateer was the first one to greet you along with your donkey friend Herby!!

11/15/2025

Good luck to all the hunters out there on opening day! Especially to our helpers Braden and Brad - and son Don! Please be safe all!
Here is the ONLY buck we hope to bag today!
🦌 🦌
Remember if you are looking for a European Head mount reach out to son Don Seekman for all your needs 269-317-9743 🥹

11/14/2025

The littlest Hathaway at Chestnut Acres today! Wishing all the farmers a Happy Harvest! 🧡
Get out to enjoy a beautiful fall day!!
Side note* check out her boots* she wanted to wear them here!

11/14/2025

Congrats to Dave and Avalanche Hanover (one of our former clients) who found a forever retirement home!! 🥰💙

BROTHERS UNITED 🖤🥹

AVALANCHE HANOVER banked nearly $400,000 on the track, and his trainer, David Kuzara, who never stopped bragging about how special he is, wanted nothing more than a storybook retirement for him, and he got exactly that!

Adopter Dr. Megan, a former helper at Hanover Shoe Farms, worked, loved and adored broodmare Anadarko Hanover, so much so that when the opportunity came to buy her son, Acton Hanover, she jumped on it. Ever since, she has been on the hunt to find him a brother; but never expected it would be HIS real brother, Avalanche! David drove 10 hours to deliver this special boy himself and we couldn't be more happy. Congratulations to Avalanche Hanover, Acton Hanover, Megan & Tim on their happy full circle family!

Avalanche Hanover is one of over 300 horses placed into new careers with the help of the MMXX Team. Ready to find yours? Message us!

11/11/2025

It was a chilly morning today! Henry our blacksmith was at both farms today!

11/09/2025

First snow ⛄️ of the season! These 2 grandgirls built a snowman this morning! Note* They used a Chestnut Acres hat! Love ❤️ it!

11/06/2025

Got to witness a beautiful sunset tonight at the Burlington farm while doing chores there! Came home and helped Linn finish chores here! A frozen pizza and conversation at 8:30 tonight=priceless. Thankful for the little things! 🥰🐴💚. Good thing I had that coffee. 😉

11/05/2025

It’s a Wednesday! Similar to a Monday 😉 Coffee to get home but first energy to run to Chestnut Acres west to check on things!

10/31/2025

And I was there….with granddaughter Jayna who was in the talent competition!! 💙