January 28, 2015

by Jerry Ginther
NP Columnist

On one of my bicycling tours of the town when I was 12 or 13 years old, I came upon a man plowing a garden near the intersection of Seymour and Strain streets. That, in and of itself, was not unusual, but the fact that he was plowing the garden with a horse caught my attention right away. Even in the late 50’s this was somewhat of a novelty to see someone plowing in town with a horse. Truthfully, there was something else about this scene that made it even more appealing to a curious boy looking for something interesting to do. That something else, to which I’m alluding, was the sight of several kids riding on the plow horse. I wasted no time abandoning my two-wheeled transportation for a closer look. Kids were lined up on the horse’s back from the hames to his rump, and others were waiting their turn. If you think I got in line, you are thinking correctly. What more could an adventurous, young lad hope to find on a Saturday morning than a chance for a horseback ride. Even if it was a plow horse, it was a horse, and a big horse at that. At that age, it didn’t matter; it made the day, and I would join in the fun!     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.