Joe and I were walking out to get the paper this morning when he started to tell me about his first horse.  He hardly every sparks up a conversation, so I couldn’t wait to hear all about it.

Joe:  “Yup, I was just a boy but I wanted my own horse so bad.  Dad told me that horses were too expensive so I’d just have to wait until I was a little older so that I could save up money to buy one for myself.”

Me:  “Oh bummer.”

Joe:  “No, it was alright because I walked into town the next day and ran into an old man with a horse.  I asked him if I could pet it, and he said, ‘Why sure, Little Fella’.  I loved that old horse the moment I set eyes on it.”

I could tell that Joe was kind of trailing off of the conversation, so I kept asking him questions to keep his mind on it.

Me:  “Did you tell the old man how much you wanted your own horse?”

Joe:  “Huh?  Oh yeah….yup, I told him that he was lucky to have such a nice horse…”

Joe stumbled then and I had to catch him before he fell right into the ditch.

Me:  “Whoa, look out there, Joe!”

Joe laughed:  “Can’t seem to walk straight these days.”

Me:  “It’s okay, you’re doing just fine.  So tell me more about that horse…”

Joe:  “Oh yeah, well the old man asked me if I had a horse, and I told him that I wanted a horse of my own real bad, but my family couldn’t afford to buy me one.”

Me:  “What did he say after that?”

Joe:  “Well he asked me, ‘How much money you got in your pockets?’  I put my hands in my pockets and pulled them both out empty, and left them hanging out so that he could see for himself.  Then he asked me to check my back pockets, and when I reached back I found my comb.  I held the comb up so that he could see it.”

Me:  “What did the old man say to you then?”

Joe chuckled:  “Well sure enough, he hollered out, “What do you say you trade me that there comb, for this here horse?”

Me:  “Wow, really?!”

Joe laughed:  “Yup.  So sure enough, I gave him my comb and he gave me his horse, and I thanked him over and over again and went on my way.”

Me:  “Holy Moly, so he just gave you his horse?”

Joe:  “Well, I paid him with my comb, but yeah…”

Me:  “What’d your dad say when you came back home with a horse?”

Joe laughed:  “Dad was sure surprised.  He hollered out at me ‘Whatd’ya got there, Shorty?’ and I just stood there next to my horse with a big, shit-eatin’ grin on my face.”

Me:  “Did he let you keep it?”

Joe:  “Oh yeah, well we had a farm and all, so there was plenty of room for him.  Dad told me that I had to build him his own stall, but I was happy to do that.”

Me:  “What did you name him?”

Joe:  “Name?  I don’t remember what his name was.  But he was blind as a bat is all I can remember about him.”

Me:  “The horse was blind?”

Joe chuckled:  “Yup, he was blind all right.  My dad and my brothers teased me about it all the time for letting an old man trick me into buying an old, blind horse, but I didn’t pay them any never-mind.”

I laughed:  “So were you able to ride him?”

Joe:  “Oh yeah, I put a saddle on him and away we went.”

Me:  “And you didn’t have any trouble, with him being blind and all?”

Joe:  “Well he was clumsy as all-get-out and he ran into shit all the time, so I had to really watch where we were going or he would’ve trotted us right over a cliff.  But other than that, he was a good horse.”

Me:  “Well I’m so glad that you got a horse that you could love so much.”

Joe got a little bit teary eyed:  “Yep, I did love him.  That blind little shit.  He was clumsy as hell, but I loved him.”

I patted him on the shoulder and smiled:  “That was one lucky horse.”

Joe looked confused:  “What horse are you talking about?”

Me:  “Oh nothing.  Let’s go inside and read the paper, huh?”

Joe:  “Yeah, okay.  I guess that’d be alright.”