Hard goodbyes

This weekend was filled with such a range of emotions. It marked the one year anniversary of Justin's Dad passing. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think of Papa and miss his onery smile. We also had to say good bye to a horse that was more dog and human than horse. Shorty was Justin's horse that he has had since he was in high school. He used Shorty for everything and Shorty had a way of telling Justin no matter how many times they roped, whether in the arena or in the pasture, that he still had the upper hand. Shorty would buck with him every now and then just to show that he still had it in him. He loved to eat ham sandwiches from Subway. He would push a dog away from his dog food and eat the whole bowl as a treat to himself. He was sound his whole life. Who ever has a horse that is used in all areas and stays sound. Shorty was definitely one of a kind. He really took the cake when the kids decided they would prove to Justin that they could ride him and take him over. Shorty still wanted to prove he had the upper hand so at a 4H riding meeting he decided to buck with Everett. Everett said no more and started riding someone else, Shorty was 25 when this happened. So Kaiden took him over and Shorty never bobbed his head or broke into a lope with Kaiden. This suited them both and they went on to take Reserve Grand Champion at Fair. At 26 Shorty coliced bad and we were in the process of packing to move. He survived but never fully recovered. We moved and brought him with us and how he survived the hard cold for three weeks I will never know, but he did. Justin turned him out into the yard and he grazed freely, the kids took him cake from everyday and Shorty would come get you when he wanted into the horse pen, or out, or water, or pet... The weather finally turned warm and Justin knew it was time to let him go while Shorty was in good spirits. I put Kaiden on him bareback one last time and Shorty meandered off about 30 feet and slowly laid down letting Kaiden off. He just couldn't give anymore rides. So with a heavy heart we let him go and we remember all he gave. We pray another Shorty comes into our lives and we are thankful that Papa has another amazing mount in his string.

The kids had Spring Break this weekend so on Wed night we met my SIL in North Platte and picked up my two nephews. Yancy and Will stayed with us through Sunday when I took them back . Oh the fun the kids had!! I am surprised our goat is still alive! They roped her all day everyday but the trick was to catch up with her to be able to rope her. A few weeks ago I helped the triplets build a fort down on the creek so if they weren't roping something they were playing at the creek, or riding calves. We shipped two pot loads Thursday morning and they helped push the cows on the trucks after that they rode with Justin to sort pairs and get them to another pasture. We have pallets of mineral stacked in one of the barns and each child claimed a stack as each of their "hotel". I loved that they were having a good time and the only time I saw them was to help them saddle up or at feeding time. It never took them long to fall asleep. We had a great weekend and can't wait for the weather to just stay warm so we can stay outside. :)