Zippy Chippy wasn’t zippy, for despite his name
He tended not to run a lot, although he wasn’t lame
One hundred times he entered races. Never did he win
And sometimes Zippy just stood still, and he would not begin
The call would be “Their off!” But Zippy wasn’t off at all
He’d look around as if to say, “Let’s go back to the stall.”

Why when other horses ran, would Zippy choose to be
The only one unmoved by dreams of mighty victory?
Some said the Zippy had not heart, and some said he was nuts.
One theory had it that he was a fumble footed klutz.
But what if Zippy Chippy had a bigger brain than most?
And if he knew winning was an empty sort of boast
If all the winning did was made some wealthy guy make money?
And what if Zippy found that idea sort of sad and funny?
And what if he thought, “Well they’re gonna to feed me anyway.
Why work as if without the work I wouldn’t get the hay?”

Zippy Chippy lives today upon a lovely farm
And there he doesn’t do a single living creature harm
The people come to visit him and some of them conclude
That Zippy Chippy is a joke, and I would find that rude
If I could not image that somehow Ziggy’s worked it out
Perhaps he chose to beat the game, then beat it in a rout
He did not suffer injuries. He didn’t suffer fools
He got himself tossed off the track because of racing’s rules
Which say a horse that doesn’t try cannot participate
If Ziggy figured that one out I think it would be great
For Zippy need not run these days, and still he gets to eat
He lacks for neither food nor love, He is a horse complete