Snap and Prince

Around the 1940s, in Cardston, Alberta Canada, a man got his wagon stuck in the mud. Try as they might, his horses could not pull the wagon free. Fortunately, one of his neighbors passed by and saw him. The man asked his neighbor if his horses could help. "Of course," he replied, and they hooked them up together. But, even with a group of four horses, they still couldn't get the wagon out of the mud.

A short time later another neighbor passed by. They asked him if his horses could help, and of course they were also hooked up. But even with six horses, the wagon wouldn't move.

That is when Welburn John Van Orman passed by. He was asked if his horses could be hooked up. Welburn's two horses were named Snap and Prince and he had worked with them to become a true "team" of horses. So, Welburn told them "no". Everybody was shocked! That is not something neighbors would do to each other! "This team knows well how to work together and hasn't worked with any other horses. But," Welburn explained, "if you will remove your horses, I will hook up Snap and Prince and they will pull the wagon out themselves."

The other neighbors were stunned and replied, "Do you really believe that your two horses alone can do what our six horses, all together, can't?"

Welburn responded, "If my team can't do it themselves, I will consent to hooking yours up after they fail." But Welburn knew what would happen.

So, the other neighbors removed their horses and Welburn hooked up his team. Then Snap and Prince started pulling together, and the wagon budged! Then they took another step! And then another! Completely astounded, the neighbors watched as Snap and Prince pulled the wagon out of the mud!

"How?" they exclaimed!

"Because you had a Group of six horses, but I had a Team."

Years later, when Welburn would tell this story to his children and grandchildren, he would explain in detail how a group of horses could be put together, however, as they tried to work, one would step forward, but his partner wouldn't be set and would get pushed back. Then the partner would push forward, forcing the other back. Although they would be able to get some difficult things accomplished, they would need a very large number to be able to accomplish a truly demanding task.

But a Team works together. Snap and Prince would allow each other to prepare and get themselves set, then they would both apply all of their strength at the same time, and as progress was made, they would continue to make sure they were working together, and the job would be accomplished. As such, regardless of the work that needs to be done, a small "Team" will accomplish better results than a large "Group."