Equus

I’ve always loved horses, working at a polo grounds as a young teenager. It was backbreaking work for young man, repairing fences, carrying and stacking bags of feed and bales of hay, mucking stalls, personally grooming and caring for our stable of mares and geldings, maintaining the polo grounds and the barn where our standard bred horses were berthed. I was ultimately rewarded for my efforts by working my way up as a trainer, actually riding, training and playing the horses on the training field. In the process I was bitten, kicked, and thrown more times than I cared to count, including a stumble once where the horse actually rolled over me. During the formal games, which were always on a Sunday afternoon, it was my job to prepare 6 horses, a fresh horse for every 7 minute chukker of play, each horse usually totally exhausted at the end of the chukker. The owners played in the formal games, most of them being wealthy. Playing polo was just a hobby, allowing them to rub elbows with their fellow rich and famous. As I prepared to graduate from high school, I had to leave and enlist in the military or be drafted. That ended my polo equestrian adventure, but I’ve never forgotten it. It provided me with a good work ethic, and prepared me for entry into the military, ultimately making it a career. To this day I still love horses, riding occasionally when I have time and the weather is agreeable.