Short Story Elementary Reading Story is about a horse owner who is challenged by another owner claiming his faster horse cannot be beat. Similar to tortoise and hare story

[Jordon]

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Short story read in middle school or elementary (pretty sure the latter) so I'm thinking it was 1990-99 when I read it.

Story is about two guys who each had a horse. One was cocky and had a fast horse, the other was humble and had a slow horse. The cocky guy convinced the humble guy to do a race. The cocky guy on his faster horse lost. The faster horse got tired and slowed down while the slower horse was able to keep a consistent pace and win. After some discussion between the two guys, the cocky guy wanted a rematch but switching horses. He lost again! The faster horse actually won and it was because the humble guy managed the speed and didn't let the horse tire himself out.

[Jordon]

If it matters, this would have been when I was in school in Michigan. Not sure how reading is chosen between the various states.

[Jordon]

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I had some folks on my facebook post ask more about the story. I wrote my own embellishment of the story as I could recall it. It's for a script I'm writing and would like to cite / source properly and get the story right. Maybe this may help trigger what is needed for someone else. I do appreciate it

I want to share with you a story written a long time back about two guys who each had a horse and raced each other. It’s a story I read in elementary school but I cannot find it online, so I’m going to embellish and make the story my own until such a time where I find the actual story. We’ll call one guy Bob and the other guy John. How original, I know! Well, Bob is a gentle guy who has been around the horse racing business for quite a long time. He knows horses inside and out. You would probably think he was a horse whisperer. But he lived humbly. Talking to him you would never know if he had won races or had other achievements worthy of praise. He was out one day brushing down his horse when John showed up. Now, let me tell you about John. He liked the glitz and glamor. He liked the attention winning a race would bring. His personality was more on the cocky side. Today it showed. He decided to come to Bob and brag about his new horse. Supposedly it was the fastest horse around, nothing could beat it. Bob, being a practical guy, doubted John’s claim and really wasn’t showing any interest in continuing John’s conversation. But John crossed a line. He ridiculed Bob’s horse, saying it was slow and would never be able to win a race, especially against John’s new horse! The two men agreed to a race. They met a track and agreed to a distance. I don’t recall if it was one lap or more. Whatever the case was, the race was agreed to and both men lined up to start the race. John was right, his horse was fast, and when the race started, he had an early lead! Turning he could see he had multiple lengths on Bob so early in the race! Now, if you know anything about horse racing, even one lap around is a long distance! I think they are something like one mile in length. John rode his horse and drove it as fast as he could, wanting to have such a distance between him and Bob that it would be hilarious! But, about the third corner, he could tell his horse was slowing down. Bob was still behind but John’s pace had slowed down so much that Bob began to gain on him! Sure enough, before the finish line, Bob and his horse were out front ahead of John and they won the race! John, he was so mad, he was embarrassed and if you ever felt that way you know it doesn’t feel good! John was not a happy camper and he began to mouth off. But Bob, he wanted to turn the tables and really stick it to John because clearly he needed to be taught a lesson. He wanted to let John know there was nothing wrong with John’s horse. The issue was John himself. So he offered a rematch. He proposed they race again but this time, they should switch horses. John, desperately wanting to feel a win, accepted. After the horses were rested up and ready for another race, they lined up and raced again. This time, with John’s horse now being controlled by Bob, did not take off a fast and early lead. Bob never let the horse go full speed or if he did because of the horse's insistence, never for long. He kept reigning the horse back in. And you know what? Bob won that race too, with John’s horse! It was no contest! All because Bob knew how to manage his horses while John did not!