A Horse Is a Horse of course-of course-

I have a wonderful brother~ CS Charlie (I will tell you all someday what the CS stands for- it has something to do with poultry & excrement and that’s all I’m saying for now no matter how hard you beg). I hope he is reading this blog today because he will certainly remember Roxie The Burro. Mr Ed (the talking horse)had nothing on her. She had her own way of communicating.

When we were kids we wanted a horse. My father had plow horses but they weren’t for riding.so we were always begging for a pony. My father thought that a pony might be a bit "dangerous" so he started looking around for a suitable substitute. What do you think he found? Aha! I see you have already peeked at the picture. I’ll bet you thought it was a donkey, didn’t you? Well, you can bet an ass it is NOT a donkey (or an ass)-it is a burro. No purer form of stubbornness has ever existed.
I remember clearly the day we picked her up. It was down in the Valley and my father let me go along. He also took the hired hand, Louie Wheeler, with us. My father traded a cow for the burro...let me tell you...I think he got screwed but that was his own doing. We got Roxie loaded up into the back of the 1953 Chevy truck and started home with her. I think there were two stop signs in Athens, PA. At both stops Roxie threw her head back and brayed til Kingdom Come. She was a brayer extraordinare! My father laughed almost as loud as she brayed and I can remember Louie slumping over in his seat and pulling his hat down a bit. As I got older I realized that it was because he didn’t want anyone to recognize him and connect him with the unspeakable sight riding behind him.
We got her home....oh boy! oh boy! Oh boy! I can’t WAIT to get on that "horsie" (as I called her). Careful-careful-get on her careful, my father admonished me. Ever so gently I was placed on her back. Hmmmm...she didn’t like that so much so she sat down. Try again- haul Roxie to her feet and get back on. She sits down again. My father thought we should give her a break and let her get used to the place. She had a nice little barn off the main barn with a lowered door frame...remember this because it is important later in the story.
Long (oh-so-long-) story short- (that’s the SecretAgent’s favorite line-I now know there IS no short story -sorry-SecretAgent-you know I love ya like my own). Roxie would, on occasion let us ride. However, we learned to not ride any farther from the barn than we wanted to walk home. The first time it happened I was up in the back field and quite a distance from the barn. She got tired of carrying me around. First she lowered her head down hoping I would slip off....ah...but I had learned her tricks! Next she dropped to her knees in front-No go-this cowgirl is hanging on and staying straight-even if my feet are flat on the ground. Uh Oh-this isn’t working...Let’s try ROLLING. There is NO way you can stay on a rolling burro-take my word for it. Mission accomplished-she gets up-takes one glance back and merrily trots back to the barn riderless-God bless her soul (yeah, yeah...I hear the Christians again-animals don’t have souls but–the way she looked at me-the depth in those eyes...okay! Okay! )...Okay-God bless her anyway!
If for some reason she was out and spotted the barn, and didn’t ditch you first, she would lay her ears flat back against the side of her head and RACE towards the barn. Hold on and duck because a low door to the stall does not stop her. However, it WILL stop you if you are sitting upright. Ya know, no matter how good/bad/ugly that old burro was we loved her and she was a fun part of our childhood. Thinking of getting one now, are you? Well, I do have one piece of advice for you. It’s simple to understand-if you are thinking about getting a burro- DON’T! .