“From Worthless to Priceless”

(OK, even if you weren’t/aren’t a fan of President Reagan or horses, this one is still a great story!)

One of the coolest parts of President Reagan’s – and other state funerals – was the riderless horse. I’ve kind of gotten a charge out of that ever since I saw the pictures of JFK’s funeral procession. The horse, Sergeant York that did the honors for President Reagan’s procession, has a great story. You can check out Dave Kindred’s column about him here.

“That day the pacer Allaboard Jules ran third in yet another cheap race at New Jersey’s Freehold Raceway, maybe earning $300, not enough to meet the blacksmith’s bills. Brandwine, the trainer and owner, had put Jules in the race hoping another owner would take him for the $4,000 claiming fee.

That’s about what the horse cost Brandwine two years earlier, and his fondest wish was to get out even.

But no bites.

There never were any.

‘Nobody wanted him,’ the trainer said. Everyone knew Allaboard Jules’ problems. He was small, no more than 15 hands high, and any horseman looking at him would agree with Brandwine’s race-tracker summary of the horse’s conformation: ‘He was bowlegged and cross-eyed.’

Meaning, he can’t run, and he’s ugly, too.

Cold.

Of course, he could run, just not quickly. And even the man whose livelihood depended on the horse’s quickness knew that Allaboard Jules was a beautiful horse – alert, black, shining.”

How many times do we give up on someone before it’s time? How many times do we fail to see the “priceless” and only see the “worthless”?

WOW!