©Scott Sines
My Dad called every horse he ever saw Ol’ Paint. Just like you call every dog ‘pup’ or every cat ‘kitty.’ I never thought anything about it until my sister-in-law Dianne Sines messaged me to say that she heard we were about to be grandparents.
Here’s her note:
“I kept it (the rocking horse) thinking I would have grandchildren and that is not happening and realized I wanted to keep it in the family and since you and Teresa are becoming grandparents I thought you would like it. Nathan and Travis spent many hours on the little red rocking horse as well as their cousins upon visiting us. I want your grandchildren to have as much fun as my kids. The little red rocking horse has many, many, miles on it and has lived in several states and I want that to continue with all of you. With the best of wishes to all of you now and always. Dianne”
My dad made the little red rocker for my brother and me sometime around 1953. I know he made it because my Dad and Mom wouldn’t have had the money for a “store bought” rocking horse at that time. Apparently my mother gave the rocker to my brother’s family when their boys were small and Dianne kept it all these years. His name … Ol’ Paint.
It turns out Ol’ Paint is a cowboy legend. It’s a song they played to the cattle to keep them calm and to try and prevent stampedes. Many cowboys lost their lives trying to get the herds back under control once they got spooked.
The cowboys worked in two-man teams. All night long they rode slowly in opposite directions in a giant circle around the sleeping herd. They would usually sing or whistle continuously, to pass the time and so the cattle would know that a friend was watching over them. One of the songs was Ol’ Paint.
Immediately I flashed to a self-taught, guitar playing, 19 year-old Marine from Portland, Michigan on the front lines at Okinawa or Peleliu or Saipan. I think about the cowboys calming themselves and the herd. I think about the Marine doing the same thing. Like a lot of World War II vets he never talked with me about his war experiences until he was about to die. And even then I only have the scarcest of details. I’m sure he only told me to purge his mind of the awful things he saw and might have done himself.
Now Ol’ Paint is retired but he’s still calming the rider and a restless herd of toddlers. It’s the oldest Sines family heirloom Teresa and I have and that suits me just fine.
