In the winter, Harold drove me and two neighbour children to school in the cutter. The snow was sometimes up to the horses' stomachs, and nothing pleased Harold more than to occasionally upset us in the snow. We don't get snowfalls like that nowadays! Back then they sometimes had to call men out with shovels to dig the snow plough out when it got stuck - which happened often.

Harold got a really brilliant idea one winter. He turned Barney into a horse by fashioning a harness and hitching the farm dog up to my sleigh. Away went Barney, with Harold leading the way down the road to a neighbour's house to show off the artistic nature of his work. It so happened that the neighbour's barnyard was like a huge skating rink, thanks to a recent fall of freezing rain. Suddenly, a barn cat scurried in front of us. This, of course, was like waving a red flag in front of a bull, and Barney sped away through a gate near the barn, with me screaming for help. My sleigh ended up smashing into a post, and I went flying off like a big roll of butter.

Harold and our neighbour stood nearby, laughing, and that was the end of Barney the horse. Though I think if I ever own a race horse, I'll definitely call him "Barney"!