The hero of this tale,

Is a sweet, aged gelding called, Bones.

Because, at the time of his rescue,

There wasn’t much to him but his skeleton.

His situation was dire, his friends to the left and right,

Had already died in their stalls.

But as had happened before, when he was much younger,

He was rescued and given new hope.

But Bones had been quite a show horse,

Had won lots of prizes for his girl.

When she went off to school and to wed,

Bones was sadly forgotten.

But Samantha, at 16, was in need of a friend,

Her sweet little gray had sadly passed on,

Her family would not buy another horse,

And her daddy’s anger was often vented on her.

So the neighbor took Bones in,

And Sammie, who cleaned their stalls,

Simply bonded and loved this sweet horse.

So when he was ready and healthy again,

It was Sammie who had the first ride.

And together the two of them went,

Sammie stroking his neck, Bones tossing his head.

The summer passed with the two often seen,

Riding and practicing, and Sammie learning to jump.

Then the day of the show, Sammie’s nerves showed,

And her parents were nowhere around.

But Sammie and Bones went around clean,

A blue ribbon was hung on the bridle of Bones.

And all the way home, that blue ribbon sat,

Lain flat on the seat beside Sammie.

And every so often, Sammie reached over,

And stroked that blue ribbon and smiled.