Why Dolly Parton ‘Religiously’ Planted ‘Horse Turds’ as a Child

Dolly Parton got up to some wild things as a little girl growing up in the mountains of East Tennessee. Burying horse poop in the ground and diligently watering it in hopes that a pony would grow, for example. Here’s the story of how Parton and her siblings believed they could grow ponies. 

Dolly Parton’s uncle told her she could ‘grow a pony’

Parton’s uncle Dot Watson (married to the singer’s mother’s sister Estelle) was a playful guy. One day, he told the “Coat of Many Colors” singer and her siblings that they could “grow a pony.” As far fetched as it sounds, the Parton kids desperately wanted a pony and were excited to believe there was a way to get one.