Sokah2Soca

Photo©Coti Ci Cote La Dictionary (my purchased copy)

Who said that you had to go to the Arima Race Track or to the Queens Park Savannah to ‘ride ah horse’ or simply to jockey 'yuh horse' to the finish line? Well if you had ah true Trini childhood you would have jockeyed your horse whipping and gesticulating that diamond shaped horse from some start point (usually where a stand pipe was located) or you would wait for the rain to fall and the ensuing drain off would create the ideal track to race 'yuh horse'. On a rainy day one had to be very careful not to lose your horse as the waters swirled down the drain.

Now we get to the horse - a work of childhood genius I tell you. First you had to know the right ‘wood’ to use but if you were smart enough you would have known that the wild hog plum bark was the best material to use to make your ‘horse’.  So after digging out a nice piece of bark you would need a good side walk to sand it down to the diamond shape.  Of course the smarter kids knew to bevel the edges just right.  A little smooth sandpaper to finish it off and you were almost ready to “head to the track”.

Aah, the final touch was the main trick to get a winning “horse”…. I know Trini, yuh saying it long time now and yes some hot candle to help it in the water. Now you were ready to race. The action was tight with everyone jockeying their horses and whipping the life out of our fingers and calling the race like Raffe Knowles.  Sometimes you would not only lose the race but also lose 'yuh horse' (after d'rain race) in the 'canal' and that meant you  were right back where you started – at the hog plum tree.
Photo taken from Cote Ci Cote La Dictionary.