09/01/06 Horse school bus part two

School Bus Horses II Yesterday I told you about Mom's school bus horse. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you about two more. Our good friend, Frank, came to Washington in 1920 from Montana. Frank's favorite memory of school in Montana was being pulled to his lessons by one of the older ranch horses. In the winter the small wagon was replaced with a sled for running in the snow. The cold Montana winters were no problem for Frank and his brothers and sisters since they just huddled under a big buffalo robe and let the horse go. When the old mare stopped they were at school. Their heads didn't come out from under the robe on the way home neither  not until that horse stopped and they were home. That's just like flying a plane strictly with instruments except Frank never had to make any corrections with the horse's direction. My mother-in-law rode a horse to school or rode a bobsled in the winter pulled by two ranch saddle horses. The one horse she rode was a bigger workhorse type so if she picked up neighbors on the way to school she would back the horse up to a fence, the neighbor would climb the fence and jump onto the horses back. If the single horse was ridden in the winter they traveled on the country roads since the snow was too deep in the pasture shortcuts. Her dad would then sharp shoe the horse in case the road was slick with ice. That's just like ice studs in tires today. I don't know if kids in years past liked school any more or less than kids today, but the ride to school and home had to be a lot more interesting. I'm Jeff Keane.