Harv's birthday! 22 years of being a good boy...

It's Harv's birthday -- he's 22 (March 5)!!! Here's something I wrote a bit ago -- guess this is a good time for a blog entry that's 100% Harv.

Fun with fabrication
Bob and I talk about Harvey a lot, and it's part of our schtick is to invent all sorts of things about him. When Bob heard about layoffs at his company, we had a serious talk about finances. As the conversation wound down, Bob leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "Ahhh, it's a good thing we can fall back on the Harvster's financial resources." I gave him a questioning look. "The Harvster dabbles in the market, " he went on. "He has investments of his own -- offshore holdings, a Swiss annuity, but also domestic preferred stock." Bob took a swig of coffee. "Yeah, I found the documents in his feed bucket," he explained.

Well, I think it's cute.

Harv's checkered past
When Harvey moved to a new barn last year, he encountered Skippy, a little donkey. The first meeting was dramatic. Bob and I were leading Harv into the barn, and as we rounded the corner we ran smack into Skippy. Harv stopped in his tracks and went rigid, then he reeled backwards and tried to turn and run. He was shaking slightly and we had to take him back outside.

At the time I didn't know that many horses are afraid of donkeys. So, on the drive home, Bob and I analyzed at Harv's terrified reaction. I wondered aloud if he'd had a bad experience with donkeys. Bob thought about this for a minute.

Bob: "I didn't want to say anything, but Harv told me something of this when I was cooling him out this summer."

Me: "Hmmm?"

Bob: "It turns out, Harvey and Skippy go waaay back. But back then, Skippy was 'Manuel.'"

Me: "Manuel?"

Bob: "Yes! It was on the Mexico-Arizona border. Harvey was still with the FBI then, and Skippy was on the wrong side of the law. Some things happened. Things Skippy knows about. Things Harv isn't proud of. Harvey came to eastern Pennsylvania to forget those days. Lead a simpler life."

Me: "So Skippy was -- a drug mule? "

Bob: "Well -- not a mule, but yes, there were drugs involved."

Me: (musing aloud) "And Harvey told me he'd never been west of Ohio."

Bob: "We mustn't let on we know anything. Skippy is in the witness protection program."

Me: "No wonder Harv was so shocked to see him."

In retrospect, something in Harv's expression on seeing Skippy -- er, Manuel -- was tinged with recognition. Maybe it's my imagination but the moment of panic fit completely with the scenario Bob described. I haven't felt the same about Skippy ever since.

Coming soon -- digging up your horse's past
Well, that was fun for me, but you may wonder why on earth I'm sharing this. It's an intro to Part II which is coming up in the next few weeks. I'll be doing some research on how to track down real facts about your horse's past...