I wish I could ride again
One more time
Ole Leonard
Over course two
On Chinquapin
See Silverwood
Sprint past Bisco Buck’s grave
Take the left side to the front reachin’ deep
All the way to the fence on the hilltop
There to stand proud and high
While Robin flushed
Then when tapped on the head
Relocate the birds that had run back under the dog truck
Where he stayed high when they flushed
See Big (the dog not the man) light out down to the flat
Then ease left and reach to the corner where he stabbed another
Stays for the flush and release and reaches for the front again
Where at the first rise he and brace-mate both stood
Big with a single to the left
Million Dollar Man with the rest of the covey on the right
Released again
They work the country in front
Pass under the transmission lines
Where Man swings right to the fence
And Dileo’s cap is raised
But when Fred arrives at the standing dog
It’s Big not Man with the birds
Silverwood has wiped Man’s eye
With four on his card tight and high
As Big (the man) waters Big (the dog)
All riding are wondering what has Silverwood got left in the tank
Ten years old and back from serious spine surgery
All thought he was through
But not Silverwood
Whose heart is bigger even than his frame
Miraculously healed he has proved
Courageous beyond belief
Now comes the real test
The last twenty minutes
Rising again to the north
Will Big have enough?
Half way he stands again
Another covey nailed and pinned
And then comes the finish-supreme
Big reached and reached and reached to end his hour beyond
Where any dog before him had been
Silverwood painting by Ross Young