Every night when I was young, I would go to bed, but I would only pretend that I was asleep, I would pretend I was talking in my sleep. Oh daddy he is such a beautiful colt, thank you for buying him for me. I would say in a low voice. It must have worked. One day my father took me to a horse auction, there were horses and colts that were captured from wild herds in Nevada. As full grown horses, mares, and stallions were auctioned off, I sat watching for a colt. My father said you pick out the horse you want, but remember, we don't have much money and we can't afford the best. There he is! they had just chased a yearling colt into the arena, he was the colt I saw in my dreams.

      "Daddy can I bid on that one please?"

      "You want that scrungy looking colt?"

      " Yes daddy, very bad."

      "Ok son if that's the one you want, go ahead and bid on him, I don't think the bidding will be very high on him."

     The auctioneer started with ten dollars, another kid said twelve. I blurted out fifteen dollars. "going once, going twice, sold to that kid with the freckles on his face."

     Now that I had a colt. what was I going to do with him? How was I going to haul him away from the auction? I asked my father these questions. Like it has always been, he had the answer, "you can use the garage at the house I'm having remodeled, and ask one of these cowboys if he will haul him there."

     Two cowboy's had to put a loop around the colts neck, and choke him until he fell on the ground. then they put their halter on him, and drug him into the trailer, then they took the loop off of his neck and got him up. with a strong chain they tied to the halter and the trailer and shut the door. the colt was to scared to fight, so he just stood there.

     When the cowboy moved his pickup and trailer, the colt started fighting the chain, he fell down on his knees, and then got up, he seemed like he had learned his lesson, he never fought that chain again.

     When we got to the garage, the cowboy's took him out of the trailer, it seemed it was much easier than putting him in. One cowboy asked, "are you gonna' put him in that garage? You can keep that halter son."

>      "Yes, for a few days" my father said. as he paid the cowboy The colt was in that garage for over a week, in that time he began to trust me, he would let me lie across his back and do nothing, he had learned to lead from the halter, he was my friend.

     My mother read in the advertisements in the paper, that there was a place close to the garage, that has room for one horse. I asked my mom to phone them, and ask if we could look at the place. They told my mother we could, my father and I went down and looked. It had a high wooden fence around about one acre, there were wood chips on the ground covering the entire area. There was a little stall for the horse that was already there and another horse to shar e, My father nor I knew very much about horses so we told the man we will bring my colt that day.

     I went to the garage and put a lead rope on the halter that the cowboy's left on the colt, and led him down the paved street, after about a half mile walk we came to a very busy street. This would be the test. I stood for a while so the colt could watch the traffic go by, Then I tightened my grip on the lead rope and started across the busy street. We made it across without an incident, I stepped up on the curb and the colt followed like he was born to it.

     I arrived at the place the colt was going to stay, I opened the gate and turned him loose inside. He ran over and smelled noses with the other horse for just a few seconds, and then he ran away bucking and kicking, as if to tell me he was happy.

     Every morning before school I would go to feed the colt, When school was over for the day, I would run all of the way to play with my colt. I could tell he liked this place much better than the garage.

     It was during World War II, butcher shops were advertising horse meat for human consumption, people could not get beef, or pork or any other fresh meat. Meat had to be rationed for the war effort.

      One night supper was late, My mother put a big steak in front of me. "Where did you get this steak ma?"

     "At the butcher shop, It's horse meat!" Oh my God they have killed my colt and butchered him, they couldn't expect me to eat my colt. I ran out of the room crying. My mother followed me into the front room, she sat down beside me on the sofa. "That is not your colt son. I truly got the steak at the butcher." None of us ate dinner that night. I trained race horses when I was older, I had known this other trainer for years, one day he said, "you don't remember me do you?"