Saturday, November 04, 2006

My Sam


People tend to be of two types: horse lovers or horse 'I don't cares'. I'm of the former variety. I was talking to some folks the other day about their horses, who are also in the former variety. It made me miss my horse, Sam. Yeah, Sam is a weird name but think of Samson, and you get a better idea.

Sam was a Polish Arab. That's a big Arabian, about 5-1/2 feet tall at the withers. This picture shows how fine his head was. Not too much dish, a strong neck, alert and interested in everything going on around him. This was a fine horse, a horse of estimable quality, a champion.

I didn't show Sam because I didn't have the skills, but he showed me his high stepping ways even as I sat on him, unworthy of being on the back of this gorgeous animal. He loved to run. Imagine strapping yourself atop a runaway locomotive. That was Sam at on the run. Try to pull him up after a couple of miles because you are worn out. He'd fight you. He wanted to run some more.

He believed he was a beauty, so he stepped out, neck arched, tail up. A big show-off, he was.

Unfortunately, my back gave me troubles and I couldn't get up on him anymore, not with a saddle anyway. Put a two-year-old kid on his bare back and he was Ol' Faithful, plodding around like a good old boy. Saddle him up and hang on for the ride of your life.

I miss Sam and I hope he's still giving somebody a thrill to be on the back of a champion. He'd be around 25 now, but I suspect he hasn't really slowed down. At least, that's what I hope. I don't want to know otherwise.

Sam was one of a kind and I am privileged that he let me up on his back and take me for the ride of my life.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Marva, Gene here. I used to know a horse like that. We have some friends who live in Montague and they raised Arabian horse for years. Cynthia and I would go over and ride the horses for them, as would other people, and sometimes we'd get to ride them in shows. Anyway, he had one horse named Fancy who, on one hand was a fire breathing cow pony, and on the other hand was a gentle, slow walking "take a kid for a ride" horse. He could also do many different tricks. It was always nice to watch Tex work that horse.

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