Once upon a time
A customer brought Arthur
A puppy to be trained
So he could run her as a derby
Arthur kept her six months
Then called the customer
“You can come and get her”
Which the customer did
He got to Arthur’s after dark
Asked Arthur “Is she broke?”
To which Arthur said,
“Derby broke almost”
“What do you mean almost?”
To which Arthur answered,
“She won’t back and never will”
The customer was devastated
Devastated first, then mad
“What did you do to mess her up”
He asked
To which Arthur said, “Some will, some won’t “
The customer said, “I won’t pay you”
Which Arthur expected
“You take her and run her
In the fall derby stakes”
Arthur showed him to his truck
And gave him a poke of vegetables from his garden
Walked the pup now derby
To his truck, commanded “load”
The customer left mad
But did as Arthur said
Ran her in fall derby stakes
She won first in two, third in the rest
His conscience would not let him sleep
So at Christmas he mailed Arthur a check for half
Arthur mailed it back uncashed
Arthur knew what would happen next
The customer ran her in spring derby stakes
She won two looked good in the rest
Then he sent her to the prairie
With a handler said to be the best
“She’s mostly broke but will not back.
Bring her home backing gets you a bonus”
The noted trainer brought her back
Dropping flat on every find
Word of that came from the prairie
Where the noted trainer ran her
It was before the internet
But no internet was needed