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029
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TRANSPORTATION TO SCHOOL
In May of 1920 I passed the county examinations that permitted me to enter high school. In September I enrolled in the high school in Crawford, Nebraska. It was about 4.5 miles from the ranch to the school. I rode a horse for the 4 years, and only on rare occasions would I be permitted to use the car.
My father raised horses, and much of his income came from selling teams of horses for farm work. He occasionally would sell one that would be used on a single buggy or as a saddle horse. Some times the horse would be partly trained, and it was my task to do some of that early training.
I remember the name of every horse I rode. Many of these horses were only half broke, and did not want to be ridden. This meant some rough rides for me. The first horse was Bob, a flea bitten sorrel, Bob always wanted to turn and go home when he got to the bridge, As a small boy I used to go as far as the bridge and then turn around.
There was Lucy, Betty, Smokey, Baldy, Dick. I remember three of these horses better that the others, because they occasionally left me sitting on the ground and I would have to walk home.
Lucy hated automobiles and trains. In 1920 there were only a few automobiles on the road, and when one of these contraptions came along with flapping side curtains, she would have a fit. She would turn in spite of anything I did, and start for home. Usually the driver would stop, turn off the engine, and let me pass. I would still have to get as far from the car as possible.
There were two railroads in Crawford, and the tracks crossed at the point I entered the city limits. The engineers would take delight in blowing the whistle. Lucy would jump and start to run. One time she just stuck her head between her front legs and bucked me off, and I had to walk all the way home.
Baldy hated dogs, and in the fall during fair time, the Indians from the Rose Bud reservation, would camp along the road where I crossed the river. The dogs around the camp seemed to take delight in snapping at Baldy's heels. She would kick at them, and occasionally hit one and send him head over heels into the borrow pit at the side of the road. The fair usually lasted 8 or 10 days, as time passed, the number of dogs that bark at my horse, became fewer, and the lines of dried meat got longer.
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Metzger Memories
