Time to buy a horse By Ronnie Fulk
May is here and at the time of this writing the April Showers have not arrived. As children we remember in school April Showers bring May flowers. Time is flying by, and if you don’t think so start writing an article for a periodical with deadlines to meet.
First, I have more sad news. As I hope you all remember the articles about the pilot that crashed in Fulks Run on September 10, 1950. It was then when a sixteen-year-old boy saw the plane go down and with his brother and friend ran to the crash site. That sixteen-year-old boy was Matthew Dove who went home to be with the Lord on April sixth at the age of 91. The blessing was when the pilot’s family came to see the crash site, they were able to visit Matthew at his home for over an hour and ask questions about that fateful day. We remember Matthew and the life he lived that touched so many people’s lives.
In memory of Matthew Dove July 16, 1934 -April 6, 2026.
Secondly, I thank those who told me that they really enjoyed the article about Randy May and his accident. We are still investigating who called him a nut in my article. We have suspects.
It’s now time for my ad jingle, tell them Charlie …. the Tuna sent you, that was from 1961 from an ad advertising Star Kist Tuna. Charlie would boast about his sophisticated good taste, but he was always turned down. They told him Sorry Charlie, Start Kist did not want Tuna with good taste, they wanted Tuna that tasted good. The ad campaign ended in the 1980’s after Charlie appeared in 85 ads. This month jingle is…Double your pleasure, Double …………that’s an easy one. Another event we must not forget is Monday May 25 is Memorial Day, and we must not forget those that gave their all to keep our nation free.
For my May story I want to share about two brothers. Now this happened many years ago and, from Fulks Run they were farmers. Now with winter over, spring planting must now be done. The brothers each needed to buy another work horse for the upcoming season. They checked the want ads, and on the road, they went in search of another horse for each of them. After several stops, they came to a nice farm, and there were two nice horses in the field. As they approached the farmhouse a gentleman came out of the barn to meet them. “May I help you?” the farmer asked.
“Yes, we came in reference to your ad that you had horses for sale.”
“Well, yes, I do. Follow me,” and away they went toward the field that had the two horses in. The brothers looked over the horses carefully and asked, “What’s the selling price?”
The seller said he wanted $400.00 for the pair.
The next question one of the brothers asked was, “What you would take for this one?” pointing to the larger muscular horse.
“Well, I will not break the pair. I’ll only sell them as a team.” This did not create a huge problem because they both needed a horse. They then told the seller, “Let us talk about this for a minute and see what we can come up with.”
As they withdrew from the seller, the one asked, “What do you think? They were good-looking horses, and the price is in line.” The one brother came up with a proposition, “I really like that muscular one, and I would give $25.00 more for him if you would want the other one.”
“That sounds fine to me,” and they approached the seller telling him that they believed they would take them. When the time came to settle up, the one brother told the seller that his brother liked the bigger horse the best and was willing to pay $25.00 more, so he would pay $225.00 and the other would pay the balance of $175.00.” Whoa, Whoa! Wait a minute! I said I would give $25.00 more not $50.00. You pay the man $200.00. I don’t think we should pay the man $425.00 for the team when he only wants $400.00.”
The other brother said, “Just forget it. I’m not interested anymore.”
And they left without buying the horses. I don’t know if they ever did buy a horse, and sadly if only cooler heads would have prevailed, they could have decided on one paying $187.50 and the other $212.50, but that’s not the way it happened. I remember my daddy relating to me the importance of having a horse. They absolutely needed a horse to be able to plant the corn, and they needed the corn to be able to feed the horse. Mmmm, sounds like catch 22. He also added he remembered the first tractor they bought, if I remember it was a Ford 8N. It just made things so much easier. I did research on the cost of a team in the 1920’s and it varied quite a bit. A team of work horses depending on breed, age, and condition and would range anywhere from $50.00 to $300.00+
I now have a special announcement for all Veterans. On Saturday May 23rd from 9AM till 2PM at the WW Motor Car Co. on Main Street Broadway a FREE car wash is being given for all Veterans. There will also be light refreshments available. So, if you are a Veteran, stop by and receive your free car wash and snacks. We thank the people at WW Motors for their generosity in supporting our community Veterans.
Believe it or not
Until next time
Ronnie
