orse Named "Apple"

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

It was reported to the Baron that a strange horse had roamed onto the castle grounds. The horse was cold and undernourished as if he had been wandering around aimlessly for several days in the Alpine Mountains.

The horse was taken to the castle stables and fed and given a warm blanket. The veterinarian was called in to look at the horse. He was very well groomed at one time and had a bridle like that worn by circus horses. The veterinarian thought that the horse might have run away from a circus.

The Baron asked Professor Hamblin, his chief advisor, to send out a notice to all of the departments in various nearby countries to see if a circus horse had been reported missing.

A week went by and there was no report of any missing horse anywhere. The horse was very quiet and despondent while he rested in the stable. Finally, when a member of the stable staff offered the horse an apple, he perked up a little. The apple seemed to be something that the horse especially liked as if it were a reward for doing well perhaps for a circus trick. So, the horse was named “Apple.”

After two weeks, a note reached the Professor that a circus had been in the general area but not in Lilliland. The circus abruptly went out of business and closed almost overnight leaving everyone and every circus animal stranded. The animals were cut loose and left on their own to survive in the mountains. This was very sad and cruel for people who generally loved their animals.

One stable hand, who befriended Apple, decided to let the horse roam around the stable paddock to see what he would do. Every so often the hand would give Apple a reward of an apple. This seemed to raise the horse’s spirits and he began to prance around in a proud manner.

Apple seemed to like applause and music. So the stable man invited some guests to see Apple and play some circus type music so that the horse could prance to the music.

Lady Angela wanted to keep up to date with the progress of Apple and visited the horse on a regular basis.

The Baron said that if no one came forward to claim Apple within the next few weeks, she could have the horse to keep. This made Lady Angela very happy.