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Horses Teach Owners a Lesson
by Greg Miller By Greg Miller 2016 Max owned a large ranch which specialized in breaking horses for several professional rodeo organizations. In addition to breaking the horses, Maxmillion, the ranch foreman, also taught the equine stars numerous tricks. These tricks included counting from one to five by moving their heads up and down and by kicking their hooves against the ground. Both male and female riders rode the horses in the competitions, which featured the Appaloosa breed. In addition to breaking and training the horses, the ranch also trained up-and-coming rodeo star riders. Myrtle and her husband, Mickey, were the latest riders to join the tour. Max wanted to ensure his riders always performed at their highest level of ability, and he wanted to teach them responsibility, so the riders didn't just ride the horses, they owned the animals. "If you take care of your horses, they will take care of you," Max told Myrtle and Mickey. Mickey and Myrtle gave their horses the proper amounts of clean water and high-quality grain, and the riders also gave the animals lots of tender loving care. Within a year of joining the rodeo, Mickey and his horse, "Mick," and Myrtle and her horse, "Beautiful," were the talk of the rodeo. While most of the rodeo's horses could count to five, Mickey and Myrtle had taught "Mick" and "Beautiful" to count all the way to 10. Mickey and Myrtle held a surprise birthday party for Max, who was retiring from the rodeo on his 70th birthday. They trained "Mick" and "Beautiful" several brand new tricks especially for the occasion. Max had planned a big surprise for Mickey and Myrtle, too. "Millie and I are going to spend the rest of our lives traveling around the world, and we want to give the rodeo to you two," Max said. Mickey and Myrtle displayed their steeds' enhanced counting ability. "When you gave the horses to us, we taught them how to count to 10," said Myrtle. "Then we got a bright idea to teach them to also subtract," said Mickey. "But no matter how hard we tried, it seemed like they were trying to teach us something, too. It was like they were saying, 'You think you're doing the right thing by teaching us to subtract, but you're wrong. It's always more fun to add. You can always eat an added bale of hay, but no matter how hard you try, it's impossible to eat one that's been subtracted! That is unless it has been subtracted by being eaten!'" To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements, including Christian Comedy Fundraising Outreaches, Christian Creativity Seminars and/or puppet ministry, please email [email protected] or [email protected]. By Greg Miller 2018 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |