One of the big news items in retailing in the US this week has been that Wal-Mart is now selling caskets.

No, I don’t think you’ll find caskets displayed in Wal-Mart stores, right next to the “Get Well Soon” cards section. They have to be special ordered, from what I understood.

I have a friend in New York who is a lifer in harness racing. He’s been around the game forever and always owns a few horses. This year, he informed me, the business that he operates hasn’t done so well. His horse business hasn’t done so well, either.

Yet he admitted that he might just slip over to the Harrisburg sale one day and, yes, he might even wind up as the final bidder on a horse.

“Before I come home and tell my wife that news,” he says, “I’d better first stop at Wal-Mart and order a casket.”

Horse ownership…..it’s something you can take to the grave with you.