Harry de Leyer was late to the auction on that snowy day in 1956, and all of the good horses had already been sold. The few that remained were old and spent and had been bought by a company that would turn them into dog food.
Harry, the riding master at a girl's school in Pennsylvania, was about to leave when one of the horses that had been marked for slaughter caught his eye. The horse was a dirty, gray gelding with ugly-looking sores on its legs. The marks left by a heavy work harness gave evidence to the hard life it had led. But something about him captured Harry's attentnion and so he offered $80 for it.
It was snowing whe Harry's children saw the horse for the first time and, because of the coat of snow on the horse's back, the children name it "Snowman."
Harry took good care of the horse. He was a gentle and reliable animal- a horse the girls liked to ride because he was steady and didn't startle likd some of the others. In fact, Snowman made such rapid improvement that a neighbor purchased him for twice what Harry had originally paid.
But snowman kept disappearing from the neighbor's pasture- sometimes ending up in adjoing potato fields, other times back at Harry's place. How Snowman got out of the pasture was something of a mystery. It appeared that the horse must have jumped over the fences between properties, but that seemed impossible- Harry had never seen Snowman jump over anything much higher than a fall log.
But eventually, the neighbor's patience came to an end, and he insisted Harry buy the horse back.
For years, Harry's great dream had been to produce a champion jumping horse. He had had moderate success in the past, but in order to compete at the highest levels, he knew he would have to buy a pedigreed horse that had been specifically bred to jump. And that kind of pedigree would cost far more tha what he could afford.
Snowman was already getting old- he was eight when Harry had purchased him- and he had been badly treated. But, apparently, Snowman wanted to jump and so Harry decided to see what the horse could do. What Harry saw made him think that maybe his horse had a chance to compete.
In 1958, Harry entered Snowman in his frist jumping competition. Snowman stood among the beautifully bred, champion horses, looking very much out of place. Other horse breeders called Snowman "flea-bitten gray."
But a wonderful, unbelievable thing happened that day. Snowman won!
Harry continued to enter Snowman in other competitions, and Snowman continued to win.
Audiences cheered madly every time Snowman mad a jump. He became a symbol of how extraordinary an ordinary horse could be. he appeared on televeison. Stories and books were written about him.
As Snowman continued to win, one buyer offered $100,000 for the old plow horse, but Harry would not sell. In 1958 and 1959, Snowman was named "Horse of the Year." Eventually, the gray gelding- who had once been marked for slaughter- was inducted into the show jumping hall of fame. For millions of people, Snowman was much more than a horse. He was a symbol of the hidden, untapped potential that lies within each of us.
We may not be gifted artists, sculptors, or musicians, but the greatest art of all is the art of living. We can take the clay of time and create from it a materpiece of an abundant life. Love the Lord with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. Enlist in great and noble causes. Create of your homes sanctuaries of holiness and strentght. Magnify your callings in the Church. Fill your minds with learning. Strengthen your testimonies. Reach out to others. Creat of your life a masterpiece. The abundant life isn't something we arrive at. Rather, it is a magnificent journey that began long, long ages ago, and will never, never end. The story of an old, discarded horse sold at auction for scrap is not so different fromt he sotry of our own lives. There is within each of us a divine spark of greatness. Who knows of what we are capable if we only try? The abundant life is within our reach if we will drink deeply of living water, fill our hearts with love, and creat of our one lives a masterpiece.
"Press On" messages of Faith, Hope, and Charity from Joseph B. Wirthlin
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