Horse Sense

June M. Blurton is a retired speech pathologist.

The setting is a village on the Canadian prairies where the wind always
blows. Two French-Canadian families journeyed there together from Quebec
to found a settlement. They started out as friends, but ended up as
enemies. Their descendants remained enemies until—a century later, on
a very cold day during the week before Christmas—a series of events
changed their feelings for one another.

The descendants are difficult to keep separate. Their individual traits
are amusing but numerous, and all share one of two family names. This
story is a fable, and although a fable may be irrational it is supposed
to be a vehicle for moral instruction. There should be a clear link
between the events depicted and the change that occurs, so that the
reader feels something of value has been learned or reaffirmed. There is
no such link here, no link that would change a century-old feud.