But outdoor work,
particularly with horses, he delighted in. At seven years of age he
drove a team with all the skill of a man; and it was said that when he
could scarcely walk he could ride horseback. The story is told of him
that at a county fair, where a prize of five dollars was offered to any
one who could stick on a trick pony, Ulysses won it after several other
boys had got thrown helter-skelter. He flung his arms around the
pony's fat neck, and stuck on, though as he afterward said: "That pony
was as round as an apple."
He tells another amusing story of himself, in these early days. He
greatly coveted a young colt owned by a neighboring farmer, and after
teasing his father, the latter tried to buy it for him. But he offered
only twenty dollars for the colt, and the owner wanted twenty-five.
After some dickering without any result, the boy went to the owner with
this message, which he delivered all in a breath:
"Father says I may offer you twenty dollars; and if you won't take
that, I am to offer you twenty-two and a half; and if you won't take
that for your colt, I am to pay you twenty-five dollars."
"It would not take a Connecticut farmer to tell what was the price paid
for the colt," he added afterward when telling the story.
This little incident, while amusing, reveals a trait in his character
which persisted all through life.
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