" T. JACK THE APRON MAN” represents a first for the VOICE. It is a short story written by freelance writer J. Mervin Davis of Adamsville. Tennessee. The story is well presented and covers a phase of the horse business with which we are all familiar. His approach to the " thoughts of an oldtime blacksmith” concerning the newcomers to the business is quite interesting and reveals an insight to the problems of this particular area of modern horse activity. Our thanks to Mr. Davis for his contribution.
THE EDITORS
T. JACK
THE APRON MAN
T. Jack was forty-five and his eyes were small with white circles close to the center that colored the once blue to a dull grey. He had tobacco-juice stains in the corner wrinkles of his mouth. A man of medium size, but his face was tanned red from the cold winter winds. His hands were large, the hands of a hard worker. They were fat not from too much drink, but from the hard work of using a rasp file and hammer. His left hand had been ground by a horse’ s hoof into an anvil when he was fourteen and the nails on the index and little finger turned inward to form a hand that resembled the claw of an eagle. When he spoke, he stuttered slightly— only enough to make you think he had tipped a few too many drinks.
Those who knew T. Jack listened when he spoke about horses because he knew, and he hated the sight of those who couldn’ t understand that a horse had to be loved to bring the best performance forward in any show.
T. Jack had just finished his beer when Bo Po came in and sidled up to the nearest seat. " Where have you been? You told me you would be over to the stables three days ago.” " Care for a beer, Bo Po?” T. Jack asked, motioning for the waitress. " Just coffee.” Bo Po nodded as the waitress approached.
" Look, T. Jack,” Bo Po tore into T. Jack without taking notice of the crowded booths, " I have four horses in the barn that I can’ t ride. I can’ t train them, because they all need new shoes.”
20 VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse