Napolean

I know, I know, some of you are thinking "More horses?!" I'd apologize, but I'm not really sorry! ;-) I'll never tire of taking pictures of horses, but I will promise that this is the last one for a while. I just had to share this image from the parade...

Here's why: it reminded me of my very favorite childhood song! Does anyone else know this one?

"There once was a horse whose name was Napoleon,
all because of his bony parts.
He was owned by Joseph Murch,
and he'd only go by fits and starts.

He was so skinny you could see right through him,
and his hair was soft as silk.
I hitched him up to my milk wagon,
when I wanted to stop, I hollered "Milk!"

Well one day when I was a ridin',
along came a fella in a rig so neat.
Said he to me, "Come on you sinner,
we'll have a race right down the street."

Away we went a helter-skelter,
me with a smile all over my face.
Sure as I'm a sinner I'd a come out the winner,
but he hollered "MILK!" and I lost the race."

My mother and her sister taught us this song when we were children and we sang it all the time. Pretty much every car trip would find us singing to pass the time. Now, I sing it for my boys - they love to hear me sing the race part double-time and then really yell that final "Milk!"

A Google search for this song shows that many people sing it, but the words are changed based on the location, especially in regards to the name of the owner - generally the singer would choose someone local. There is also much dispute over who originally wrote it, as could be expected...