To avoid Shank's pony

+ To avoid Shank's pony* +
Goats are not horses
A riding you will not go
And yet a donkey slightly coarser
Than a horse would ever show
Belligerent gray and unworthy
Hair bristled stiff and low
Always walking like an old man
So cantankerous and slow

Will at a pinch provide
A form of transport quadropeded
A slow low swaying braying ride
Take you from where you are
To what other place you wish
A donkey is not a horse it's true
But neither are a hungry beggar's wishes fish.



*Shank was allegedly a man who hired horses, and by the end of they day the last horse left was his pony, a broken down decrepit creature, so bad it was said walking was preferable. Thus when the locals might decide to walk at the end of the day, they would say they were taking Shank's pony. Shank's pony also alludes to the fact your only choice is none at all - to walk or walk being your alternatives.