The action ceased prior to my arrival, but the injuries of the participants indicated I had missed a real rodeo.  Ricky walked upright, but his right hand was in an ice-filled bag, bound by an ace bandage and duct tape.  Rick walked bent like a comma, but then he always did, so it wasn’t until he rolled up his shirt sleeve that I saw the hide missing from his right elbow.  Here is the scene.

 Ricky owns a cow pony who is a little sensitive about having his rear hooves trimmed and when he isn’t leaning on you he is cow-kicking.  After dozens of unsuccessful nipping attempts, a hobble was buckled below the horse’s fetlock to pull his foot off the ground.  This three-legged stance sent the pony into a full blown panic and he wildly tried to kick himself free from the hobble.  The more he kicked, the more the loose end of the chain and leather hobble thrashed his other legs.  Fences and gates were no match for this horse trying to escape what felt like a badger chewing on his fetlock and the action exploded from the corral, down the driveway and back to the corral.  When I arrived, the horse was securely tied to a post and was dripping with sweat.  I slowly slipped an 18 gauge needle into his jugular vein so as to administer a powerful tranquilizer.  We waited—nothing happened.  This horse was panicked beyond the magic of conventional chemistry. 

 I injected a second anesthetic drug, stepped back and waited and waited.  Finally, the old boy gave up the fight and crashed to the dirt.  We quickly removed the offending hobble and then waited for him to recover.  Ricky explained how this cow pony is the best in his string and there isn’t anything a cowboy can’t do when mounted astride this 18-year-old gelding.  I took his word for it because minutes earlier this horse more resembled an athletic out of control maniac than a cow pony.  Hopefully, one’s true value is more than you see on the surface and this brings me to my point.

 Trump supporters trumpet all the wonderful things he will do as president, but his disregard for both the Constitution and Christian principles concerns me.  At his core, he is a businessman who succeeds by cutting deals; the exact political manipulation destroying America.  However, facing the choice between Mr. Trump and a known Marxist, I will give the Donald a chance.  Like Ricky’s horse, I’ll trust he proves better than he looks.