Abraham Lincoln athletics horse racing
Before he became President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was quite an athlete. He was considered a great handball player, and recognized "asa noted wrestler. Lincoln also fancied himself a good judge of horseflesh. He was sitting around with some old cronies one day when the subject of horses came up. The owner of several good race horses spoke up and ridiculed Lincoln's judgment of horseflesh.
"Tell you what," said Honest Abe to the" owner of the race horses who had a reputation as a shrewd trader, "I'll make a horse trade with you, sight unseen. We'll each of us go out and bring back a horse and then we'll swap them. Whichever of us will want to back out, he will pay the other a forfeit of twenty-five dollars."
When word of the odd trade got around, a big crowd collected to await the return of the two men. When the owner of the several race horses returned, a howl of laughter went up at the sight of the skinny, sway-backed and ugly-looking animal he was leading on the end of a frayed bit of rope. But the laughter was nothing compared to the tremendous uproar that greeted the appearance of Lincoln, a few moments later. For Honest Abe was carrying a carpenter's sawhorse over his shoulder.
Abe Lincoln looked at the miserable spavined beast brought in by his rival. "Well, sir," he chuckled, "reckon you're too shrewd a horse trader for me because this is the first time I've been outwitted in a horse trade."
