The following letter was emailed to us on February 7, 2002 by Chris A. Kissell.
To our dearest friends and horse lovers;
Banjo passed away today after many years with us. We will miss him greatly.
Banjo lived gentleman's life during his years on the farm. No riders, No wagons, Just plain NO WORK period. Waking when he chose. Eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at his leisure.
During his last few years his arthritis became very bad. He found that sitting on the fence relieved a lot of the pain in his hips. He soon became a local attraction that within a short time spread to the point that people were coming to see him from Delaware and New Jersey.
An anonymous person would leave Banjo a basket of fruit each Christmas and for his birthday they would tie a bundle of balloons to the fence next to his information placard and leave an additional basket of fruit and vegetables. We never found out who this fantastic person was but if he reads this we all hope that he knows just how much his kindness meant to use and to Banjo.
Banjo is buried on the farm next to his favorite drinking spot on the pond.
The Kissell's at Hickory Hill Farm wish to express their sincere appreciation to all of the people who took the time from their busy lives to stop by and see "THE FENCE SITTING HORSE, BANJO"
Thank you,
Chris R. Kissell
About the Photo
Digital Photo by Seth Fox, Chadds Ford, PA
Kodak DX3500
© 2001 Photo by S. Fox. All rights reserved.
"Banjo" lived in the barn in the background of the photo just off of Hickory Hill Road, about a mile or so off of Rt. 52 in Chadds Ford, PA. I'd seen him leaning back and sitting on the fence many times as I headed toward Rt. 1, but I never had my camera with me.
In late September, 2001, after returning home from a drive, my wife told me she had seen him on the fence, so we got in the car and drove off to snap a few shots. I approached slowly, pulled the car to the side of the road and was careful not to let the door slam as I got out to take some pictures. Banjo didn't seem to mind me walking about behind him framing him up from different angles. He has quite a reputation I've discovered. I mentioned him to a woman who lives on Ring Road across from the Brandywine Battlefield. I was trying to take a picture and she stopped to ask me what I was shooting. There's a field on Ring Road that has a circled fence in it. On every post of that fence was sitting a turkey vulture. She told me they do that in the mornings and that the people in the neighborhood call it the "Meeting of the Board". I couldn't get a shot of the "Board" without a telephoto so I told her about the horse that sits on the fence. She knew all about him.
© Unica Online
| 
