Old Sam and Me 12-29-17

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Old Sam and Me - excerpt from my book 12-29-17

Of any town I lived in, I loved Old Portsmouth the best, and Boy Scouts and the Ocean, but my thoughts and memories would always return to the old farm of my childhood.

I remember the first time I saw Old Sam. He was walking beside my step father up the dirt road to our farm. I peered out the front door and porch and watched them as they drew nearer and tried to get some idea about what he was like. Old Sam was half a head taller than my step father, but they both walked together at the same slow speed, and I wondered about all the places Old Sam had worked before.. and I wondered whether he liked dogs and boys. Bingo never did take well to strangers and he and the goats had an ongoing feud as long as the goats were with us. Bingo also had a seasonal playful feud with the migrating ducks, but he never disliked them quite the way he disliked the goats.. then again the ducks didn't have horns!

I watched at they entered the gate and headed down to the barn, I supposed to be shown around. My step father saw me and grinned and waved for me to come along and I called Bingo in turn and we headed the hundred yards over to the barn. The Barn was a traditional type built the other side of the road so one could drive right in to the upper level and unload hay. The lower level had stalls and stanchions to hold the heads of up to 50 cows to eat and be milked. We had 40 cows at that time, Holsteins, Jerseys, and Guernseys.. mostly second hand mixed breed cows. We were a small dairy farm and we sold the milk every day to a big truck that came and collected it.

"Say hello to Sam!" said my step father and I replied "Hullo Sam" in a mumbly sort of way and Old Sam nodded. I watched the two of them walking around, and through gates and so on, and Bingo and I equally bored headed out to the south pasture to look out at the island. It was my personal island and we made it by flooding the middle of the pasture to make a pond. A red bandanna flew from a tall sapling on the island and there was a small ring of stones where I could safely make a fire and roast marshmallows. There were no ducks. It was beginning of summer and the others were gone north again and it would be fall before the ducks returned.

At five o'clock we went down to do the milking and I was the one to 'pitch hay'. On the upper level of the barn where the hay was stacked were several trapdoors. i would pitch hay down where it fell in the walk in front of the mangers, where my step father and Uncle Ray would fork it into the mangers. Cows were milked while they were eating which kept them still and contented. I forgot one time when I was sent to milk by hand with a pail. I grabbed with cold hands and got 'cow kicked' and knocked over stool and all! A cow can kick sideways, unlike a horse, and the hoof cut my knee and leg and I limped for a week. After that I threw hay in front first and warmed my hands good in my pants pocket before 'grabbing hold' of the southern parts.

My step father pulled me along grinning and pointed to Old Sam over on the other side of the barn. "May as well go get acquainted", he said. "You are gonna be working together a lot from now on." I wasn't so sure but with hands deep in my loose jeans I sauntered over slowly and hoped to get Sam's attention. He turned his head and his dark eyes above gray face observed me curiously. I guess here I need to tell you about Old Sam.

Old Sam's ancestors had come from Europe and a few were famous and even fought in the Crusades! One or two held the claim to have been with King Arthur in the Beginning, and with King Richard the Lionhearted. He was a Percheron and the biggest horse I had ever seen close up! They are like the Budweiser horses only a little smaller and his feet were the size of small dinner plates! Do you know horses have 'horse feathers'? They are the fringes of long hair around the ankles above the hooves. Old Sam weighed almost 2000 pounds. He was a gentle giant unless he got riled. Right then he was covering Bingo with 'horse spit' and I hoped he did not like dogs to eat! Appeared not and also appeared Bingo liked Sam far more than the goats.

" Can I ride him?" I asked hesitantly. "Probably," said my step father, "If you have a big ladder!" he laughed. "The 20 foot roof ladder is leaning up against the shed!" I looked at him startled and he added grinning, "better just use the fence".

Now remember I was a real knight! I had the wooden sword that I used to kill dragons and the fearsome Wumpus in the dark cellar. Now I would ride a horse whose kin had carried King Arthur's knights some thousand years ago in Camelot! There was one problem, getting Old Sam to cooperate. I discovered he was partial to sweets and apples and I cut apples up with my scout jackknife and lured him over to the fence. he stood and I climbed the fence and slid across onto his wide back.

"How do I get him to go?" I asked. "There are no reins".

"You Gee him," said my step father grinning. "Say Gee and he goes right, Haw and he goes left, Gitup and he goes and Woah and he stops".

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"Gitup Sam", I said and he started walking. "Gee Sam", I said and he turned right and headed toward the gate. This was kind of easy. He mosied out and headed toward the south pasture, and Sir Danny aboard his new steed would survey his island and kingdom from the high back of a horse, the like of which had carried King Arthur himself.

© Copyright 2018 by Daniel Blankley. All rights reserved.

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