I swore I was not going to attend the horse auction. No, absolutely not. No matter how good a show the Daines family put on at the Innisfail auction mart I would not be there. Based on previous experience, that was a promise I made to myself. So, all day Saturday I poked around the yard and barn, doing whatever came to hand.
Now, if you’ve never been to a horse auction in a small town, you have been living a dull life indeed. With the horses prancing through the ring before a packed room, while Snowden and Jack called out the bids, a hand was flicked, a head nodded, an arm was raised, perhaps some secret signal, seen only from the sales podium, and another horse found a new home.
I kept my promise to myself and my wife. Right up until early evening I kept that promise. So on a beautiful summer evening the family was outside after dinner, taking in the best part of the day, when Ken pointed his pickup truck down our long treelined driveway. “I need you to bring your truck and come haul a horse for me.”
Of course, feeling sure I’d done the right thing in staying home, I laughed and teased my friend about buying another horse he didn’t need. But together, we jumped in my truck, the one with the side racks on the box, and drove to town. I was sure the sale would be completed by that time. And it was. Almost. But while we waited for our turn at the loading chute, I could hear Jack’s voice pleading for just one more bid before the sale ended. Just a few dollars more for this beautiful horse. I stuck my nose into the side door and there was the prettiest little Welsh up for sale. My oldest son had his own horse but Ray, the youngest didn’t.
“Who’ll give $50.00 for this horse”, Jack pleaded again. My resistance fell and I nodded. With no more asking, the hammer fell and I owned a Welch pony.
Well, we loaded the two animals and drove home, laughing most of the way. At home I unloaded the Welsh and went and got Ray out of bed. The end of the tale is that at 10.00 PM on a nice summer evening my six-year-old son was in his pajamas, riding his new horse around on the front lawn.
And that’s how we rolled in 1968.