Way Back When-The Praying Horse

Saying for the Day: If you over feed a horse it will bloat.

My grandfather John, my son’s great grandfather, my grandchildren’s great great grandfather, worked in the mine, had a farm and ran a boarding house.

He had no car but they did have a horse and buggy. The problem was that the horse looked terrible. It was sway backed and very , very thin.

My grandfather took a lot of teasing in the mine because of that horse. So grandpa never rode in the buggy when they went to the farm. That is until they got to the edge of town where no one would see him. He would walk that far not to be associated with the horse. When he came back to the boarding house he would get off at the edge of town and walk in.

He couldn’t sell the horse because grandma loved it and would never part with it. But he complained a lot.

So one day my grandmother and Aunt Ida decided to fatten the horse up. All day they fed it oats. Now if you know anything about horses you know this is the wrong thing to do. If you feed the horse too much or change his feed pattern dramatically it will fill with gas and bloat. This makes the horse very sick and can lead to death.

By the time grandpa came home the horse was showing signs of being ill. When he discovered what they had done he took the horse to the alley to try to walk it off. The horse, however, was to sick to walk and fell down on its knees. At this point my grandfather did what had to be done. He stuck a big needle into the horse’s stomach to let the gas out. This worked and the horse survived.

Now it should have ended there but one of grandpa’s miner friends happened to be going by when it happened. When he went to work the next day they teased him about having a horse so lazy that they saw it in the alley praying not to have to pull the wagon. They did have to admit, however, that it did seem to have gained a little weight.

Poor grandpa . It was months before they found somebody else to torment. The family always remembered the horse that prayed.

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9800 spins without a win. In just four more days Old Hapless may reach 10,000 spins without a prize. When he started he assumed by now he would have at least won $5.00. He should start planning the big losers party unless he holds until he reaches 15,000 spins. Well he has four days to decide.
Well Uncle Wiggly lovers if Old Hapless doesn't win a prize tomorrow and thus end this silly section we will be back with another chapter of " As the World Spins"
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Betty got some disturbing news this morning. Her sister has a brain tumor. Apparently the prognosis for recovery is good but we would ask our friends to pray for her. We spent part of the day waiting for two people who never came. I hate that. My son, Peter , called and he still has a really bad cold. We swaped symptoms. Betty has gone to the ELCW meeting. I need a nreathing treatment.
GBYA