Rob the Wonder Horse

[Carl Russell]

In the Summer of 1986 I bought this horse, Rob, and went to the woods. Everything I do today can be attributed in large part to the nature of this beast. One day while twitching some big pine, when I asked him to turn around, he lifted his front end off the ground and did a graceful little hop over the log (1900# horse). My friend Dave said, “he did that like a circus horse”. From then on I called him Rob the Wonder Horse. I will always remember this horse… he’s in my bones.

Rob The Wonder Horse

Now go ahead, be on your way,
I’ll think about you every day.
Your eyes so bright, your ears so keen,
go find the field so lush and green,
and romp and roll, and buck and run,
have yourself a lot of fun.
I hope sometime to go that way,
and crest that hill to watch you play.

So many paths you helped me find,
both in the woods and in my mind.
We turned the soil and I learned to grow,
and bring to life the things I’d sow,
the best of which it really seems,
were buried deep within my dreams.
My time with you I’ll never trade,
you made a mark that will not fade.

Now go ahead, get on your way,
you will be with me everyday.
From ridge to ridge along the brook,
I see you everywhere I look.
Like scratches on a cavern wall,
our secrets are hidden in the scrawl,
of skid trails, furrows, and manure,
the tests of time, they will endure.

Whatever the job, you had your pace,
and I learned that this was not a race,
but when I asked you did your best,
your done with work, now take a rest.
It’s hard for me, I feel so strong,
the need to bring you on along,
to see things through to the end,
you truly were my greatest friend.

Go on now Robbie, get on your way,
I’ll meet up with you again someday. C.B.R. 2/94

[mitchmaine]

carl, i was going to tell this tale a couple times but stopped cause i don’t know why, but now i have to do it. you won’t believe it and i understnd but…when i was young, i fished lobsters here in maine. my dad had a stroke and went in to a nursing home and the family decided to sell the family farm. distressing for all. so my dad said to me i could cut as much wood as i could on the place until it sold. my bosses brothers wifes sisters husband (which is some kind of cousin up here i think) had a twitch horse named bob i could use. they called him bob the amazing jumping horse, because he would jump and ride in the back of a pickup. he was big and strong and could jump in the truck one jump very nimbly. he didn’t like being tied, and didn’t like a tailgate, but didn’t mind saws and gascans and so on under his feet. he’d ride there as far as you wanted to go, which was pretty cool to a twenty year old kid. we had to make a loop through town no matter where you were going. he was clever and didn’t have a mean bone in his body. he might be and probably is one of the main reasons i still do this. hard to say. but when i read your story i just had to tell this one.

mitch

[lancek]

great stories both of you!!!!

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