The Troika
When I was riding along the Charles Goodnight Trail in southern Colorado
searching for Wild Willie's Fort, I came across the highly unusual sight of a man plowing
his field using three mules. They were a beautiful team, perfectly matched in size and
build except one was white, one brown and the other jet black. Not only were the colors
unusual, I'd never seen a team of three mules or horses before. The only place I'd ever
seen a hookup of three of anything was in photos from Eastern Europe, more specifically
the Ukraine. Seeing an actual Troika was so unusual that I just had to talk with him.
I leaned my bike against the fence and walked out to where he would come by as he turned
the soil. He stopped and we made small talk about the weather and his beautiful mules
until I finally got around to my question, "I couldn't help but notice your unusual
hookup. Why are you plowing with three mules?" He looked at me a few seconds, kicked
a freshly turned clod as he pondered his answer and finally replied, "The other one
died."
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