A Good Horse

How much is a good horse worth?  Well, here's a story.

Monty's a great line pony.  We were checking the East line, when stupidity struck.  I tried to get down the side of a ravine.  Loose shale and sand started to slide.

Monty kept his feet, saving my neck, but we were moving too fast.  No way to avoid the barbed wire.  Monty got cut up by the dammed stuff.

Back at the barn, I backed Monty into his stall so that he wouldn't run around.  Set out some straw, and rubbed a salve in with my palm, for sterilization and protection.

Entering the house's back door, I knew something was wrong.  Betty wasn't in the kitchen.  I heard a soft moaning coming from our bedroom.

Had Betty's time come?

She was on our bed, with a comforter pulled over her.

"Time hon?" I asked.

A soft "yes".

"But Frank," she continued, "I need Doc Henry.  Soon."

"Will you be OK while I get him?"

"Yes," she replied, "but hurry."

No rest for Monty.  No time to be gentle saddling him up.  There was only one thought on my mind.  We couldn't lose our first born.

Monty never slowed as we raced to Doc's, which, thank God, was on our side of town. 

Doc was home, but his horse had a sprained leg.  Nothing for it but to double up on Monty.  He was panting and drenched with sweat by the time we made it back to Betty.

Doc kept me out of the bedroom at first, but then called me in with a smile on his face.

"We were in time," he said.

About a half hour later, our son announced his arrival with a hearty cry.

So, what's a good horse worth?  The world.  Just the world.