3rd in series Chronicles of a Broke Horse Trainer

learned the tarnished history of Buck. He was a three-year-old that had been broke to ride on the farm and they brought to the track to make a pony horse out of him. It had been a failed effort until I came along. Art was convinced that there was some uncanny connection between that horse and I and was adamant about me keeping him with the agreement that if I ever wanted to part with him, Art had first choice. I used Buck extensively at that race meet and made a considerable amount of money ponying off of him. He became my very loyal sidekick and quickly developed the reputation of being able to handle any horse you would bring in tow and had a real knack of protecting me from any ill-mannered horses that were brought our way. Buck was my companion for the next sixteen years. (He was stricken with colic and died at the age of nineteen). As good as he was for me, he maintained the idiosyncrasy of never letting another man ride him (and some pretty good ones tries). On the other hand, a woman could ride him anywhere and he was a perfect gentleman. He also proved to be a great babysitter on the race track. Kids could ride him all around the barn area even while races were going on or traffic was moving around the grounds.

Buck was definitely one of a kind. I tried for years to replace him but there was always a little something missing in the relationship.