Skip to main content
#
Farm Fresh Forensics
rss feedour twitterour facebook page
site map
contact
search
prev
next
Latest Posts
Archive

Farm Fresh Blog

Tuesday, March 15 2011

Other Half is on a quest. Since he lost The Greatest Ranch Horse Ever, he's been in search of a replacement.  The problem is TGRHE (see above) was an old horse from an old line (Skipper W) that isn't as common as it used to be, PLUS, he was a push-button horse that didn't have to be ridden regularly.  (That is VERY important around here!)

Before he lost TGRHE, Other Half purchased this horse. 

He is a great roping horse, and he looks like TGRHE, but he's an athlete who needs to be ridden regularly. His talents are being wasted with us. Other riders have made money on this horse, but we're not interested in that, we just need a reliable ranch horse. He is probably better off as a competition roping horse, not a replacement for TGRHE.

Sooooo . . . despite the fact that Other Half really loves this horse, what he really wants is a Skipper W bred ranch horse - a horse used to working cattle, a "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" horse. We don't have regular ranch work (most of it is outsourced to Border Collies) but Other Half still wants to have a reliable ranch gelding around.  Our ranch is the perfect home for the "semi-retired" ranch horse and that's what we're looking for.  It's easy to find nice young well-bred 2, 3, & 4 year old geldings.  (and Other Half is tempted!) but the reality is that we are TOO BUSY to regularly school and ride a young horse. 

So my plea to you is this - if you know someone, who knows someone, who has a Skipper W bred older ranch gelding for sale, let us know.

Read this blog about TGRHE to understand why Other Half continues to search . . .

 

He died that same way he lived, like a real cowpony. The call came in yesterday morning. Even though we had expected it, you are never quite prepared.

"Skip is down, and I can't get him up," the neighbor said.

The old horse was approaching thirty years old now and time is cruel. He'd cheated Death twice this year already, and we didn't expect him to make it through the winter. Other Half and Skip had logged many miles together. Skip had penned many a cow, carried many a child, and was that "go-to horse" that you could count on when you needed the job done right. They shared a lot together, they were co-workers, they were friends. They took care of each other. And so when he put the phone down, Other Half drew a heavy sigh. This horse, who had safely carried him through so much, this horse who had safely carried his children, now needed to be safely carried along his journey.

Phone calls were made. The vet was unavailable. His staff would give him the message when he got in, but the earliest appointment would be in five hours. Death was already pulling Skip away. He was a fighter, but it was a losing battle, and Other Half refused to allow Death to toy with Skip for five more hours.

Skip laid his great head against Other Half and he cuddled that old horse like a lap dog. He stroked his eyes, smoothed his mane, and kissed his forehead. Then with a heavy heart, Real Cowboy shot Real Cowpony. We held each other as Skip fell.

I've seen a lot of Death and have come to learn that there are worse things -- Suffering and Regret. Skip lay in the shade of a beautiful October morning with the blue sky over his head. The weather was good. It was a good day to die. Other Half took a ragged breath and went back to stroking Skip.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by: forensicfarmgirl AT 07:30 pm   |  Permalink   |  2 Comments  |  Email
Comments:
I don't know anyone with Skipper W lines, but I just want to say "Good job" to you and OH with Skip. Sooooo many people wouldn't have been brave enough to put their poor horse out of his misery. Folks move out to the country, get a few animals and don't realize death always follows life. They don't realize being able to let go and get the job done, no matter how painful it might be for them, is as important as feeding them and keeping them alive.
Posted by CeeCee on 03/17/2011 - 09:06 AM
Oh yes! That was hard! But there's no easy way to lose an old friend.
Posted by forensicfarmgirl on 03/17/2011 - 04:40 PM

Post comment
Name
 *
Email Address

Message
(max 750 characters)
*
* Required Fields
Note: All comments are subject to approval. Your comment will not appear until it has been approved.

Red Feather Ranch, Failte Gate Farm
Email:   sheri@sheridanrowelangford.com  failte@farmfreshforensics.com

© 2009-2019, Farm Fresh Forenics, Forensicfarmgirl, Failte Gate Farm, Red Feather Ranch All Rights Reserved.

rss feedour twitterour facebook page