Grandpa told me long ago about a man he knew, Old Man Dickson that had a horse. Now, it was not much of a horse, his back was bent and he had crooked legs. Its lower lip hung down and wobbled back and forth as it walked. But this was the only horse that Old Man Dickson had. He plowed his garden with it, pulled the hay mower, rode it to town and took him to church on Sundays. Well one day, one of Old Man Dickson's great uncles died and left him just a little bit of cash. When he went to town to get it, there was a man there selling the finest Thoroughbred horse he had ever seen. The old man just had to have that horse. He was tired of everyone poking fun at him and his old nag. So he bought this fancy horse and rode it home, leading the old nag behind with its lip swinging back and forth. When he got home, he kicked the old horse out of its stall in the barn, and put his new Thoroughbred in there. He pitched it a little hay and dipped his wonderful new horse some water out of the well. He turned the old nag out in the field with a slap on its rump, and a big grin that no one would be laughing at him anymore for riding the nag. The first few days Old Man Dickson was in hog heaven. All the neighbors came to see his new Thoroughbred horse and several men offered to buy it from him. During this time the old nag ate sweet grass in the field and felt the pasture under his feet for the first time in years. He drank from the spring, and stood in the shade of beautiful trees, and got a much needed rest. Soon his coat started to shine, and every now and then he just felt like running with his head tossed back in the wind.
As the months passed by, the Thoroughbred did not look quite as shiney and handsome as he did. His head hung a little, and his lip was starting to droop too. Old Man Dickson decided one day that the old nag he had, even if he was ugly, could plow faster and better than this fancy critter he had bought. So he went to the field to get the old nag to plow. There stood a beautiful spirited animal, tossing his head and running into the wind. Old Man Dickson wondered where in the world his old nag had gotten to at first, until he looked closer, and called his name, and the faithful fellow came trotting over. Grandpa told me the moral of this story was, you can buy a fine Thoroughbred, but if you treat it like a nag, that's just what you will have. - From my Grandpa - Walk in Peace