HORSE SENSE - A TRUE STORY

One of those crisp cool days promised good weather for the yearly Christmas concert. Volunteers had the tree decorated, and a Santa suit borrowed for this event at the local country school. Evening chores were completed early as our mothers packed food for refreshments after the program and dance.

All bedded in for the night, the horses may have been surprised to find themselves being harnessed for the trip to deliver the four children and their parents to this much anticipated event. The teacher had her pupils ready to present a well practiced program. Parents responded enthusiastically as each of the children delighted them with a Charles Dickens play. Outside sleigh bells jingled as Santa's Ho Ho Ho! rang out as he entered the one room school. Everyone clapped as he called the names on the brightly wrapped gifts under the tree. Each child was presented with a small see-through net red or green sack of candy and nuts with an orange tied in at the top. The mothers had sewn them the week before. That orange would be savoured with the candy and nuts to be treasured and eaten at home during the two week Christmas break.

But this evening would be different than any other. After the program dancing began to the music of local volunteers with banjo and trumpet. The eldest Davis teenager had stretched to six feet of handsome elegance as he led the small band to the tunes of country music. It seemed the school house virtually shook as they danced the night away. Small children slept on the benches that lined the walls as the midnight hour approached. Someone had made coffee on the pot bellied stove and food boxes were opened. The orchestra and dancers seated themselves on the benches as some of the older students prepared to pass the food-laden plates around. But the turbulent shaking of the room continued intermittently. Gusts of wind? Some of the men went outside as the building shuttered again. Not quite winter on the calendar but it had swept in early with a frigid blast. Horses sheltered in the shaky school's barn were snorting with alarm. The men hitched them to their sleighs as all celebrations ceased. The Davis family of six huddled together in their sleigh. Mother had wisely brought a blanket that helped as a real arctic blizzard knifed through us and every family group. George, the orchestra leader dressed in flimsy fall wear had not even worn his coat. Worst of all it seemed a white-out enveloped the sky itself. Not even the top of a post could be seen to show where the road had been for the two miles home as Dad tried to guide them. The horses were jumpy, resistant and reared up. Finally my Dad gave them free reign as the family must crowd closer for warmth. The next thing we felt was a sudden thump as we jerked to a stop. We peered out and there saw the tall poles of our clothes line. The horses were petted with accolades all the way to the barn. We stoked the home fires and hugged each other in gratitude. An ancient inner message "horse sense" had guided all the families home.