Here is the definitive Sandy Paton transcription.
-Joe Offer-
HORSIE, KEEP YOUR TAIL UP
as sung by Lew Childre
The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be,
She ain't what she used to be,
She ain't what she used to be,
Thirty-nine years ago.
Thirty-nine years ago,
Thirty-nine years ago,
The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be,
Thirty-nine years ago.
(several "honk/whistles")
Now horses come and I say horses go,
Some are fast and some are slow.
The old gray mare she ain't much for show,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.
Refrain:
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.
Her hair is long and her teeth are gone,
But she still eats hay and corn.
Well, her back caves in and her head hangs low,
Her knees are knocked together, but she's rarin' to go.
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.
Well she had a little colt just last May,
He's a cute little devil and he likes to play;
Keeps that old mare ... ( "oh, so thin" - I think)
She's a darn nice mare for the shape she's in.
(Refrain: The old gray mare she's old and bent, etc. - as above)
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep it up till I get my breath,
That tail tickles me to death!
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.
(long yodel)
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Keep your tail up,
Horsie keep your tail up,
Why don't you make it rise?
Oh, keep her up or off she goes,
Horses' tails make fiddle bows,
Horsie, keep your tail up,
Keep the sunshine out of my eyes.
Well, we took a little ride in the old shay,
The old gray mare she was full of hay,
She coughed and coughed and she said "nay-nay"
But we got there just the same.
The old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she gets there just the same.
Her hair is long and her teeth are gone,
And there's cockle-burrs in her mane.
Well, the whiffle-tree broke and she kicked straight back,
I thought, dadburn it, she would wreck the hack.
Well, the old gray mare she's old and bent,
But she keeps on hoofin' along.
(Out with several "honk/whistles.")