Sometimes It's Just "Time".

Old Virg isn't doing very good.  He's 24 now and has had a good run for a ranch horse.  He's made the rounds from my ranch horse, to almost everybody on the place, to Dad's branding horse and finally was Cash and Grace's kid horse.  But despite best efforts to keep him going, sometimes it's just "time".

Am I sad about it?  You darned right I am.  But I'd sure rather him put down humanely than try to go through the winter and get down and suffer until someone can get there to put him out of his misery.  That's our responsibility as caretakers.....to do what's best for our critters.

I paid $1100 for Virg when he was a started three year old, over twenty years ago now.  I'd only planned on paying $1000, but my last bid was $900 so it was $1100 to me.  I shook my head no when the auctioneer pointed at me and my dad said, "You're afoot.  You'd better buy him."  So I did.  I'm pretty sure I got my $1100 out of him.

I can remember several pretty long cattle drives that first year on him.  I think I must have ridden all the excitement out of him that first year.  Like Dad had said, I was afoot and he was the only horse I had at a time when we did a lot of riding.  By the end of that first year, he was pretty well broke and he acted like a lazy kid's horse. Which at the time, drove me crazy.  So I bought another young horse and only rode Virg for things like snowstorms and other bad weather and when my other horse needed a rest.  Pretty soon, Dad and my brother and anybody else who came needing something to ride got Virg.  That's about the time Dad learned that despite the fact that he was lazy and may or may not turn a cow, Virg would pull a house.  He wasn't a very big horse, but man....he would get down on his butt and pull.  So that was his calling in life for many years if Dad had to rope something.  Also when we needed a bull moved that wasn't too cooperative, Dad took a pitchfork and Virg and the bull "gladly" went where he was told.  Eventually, Virg started to get stoved up in his front end, so we turned him out to pasture with several other retirees.

A couple years later, when my friend and neighbor, Rusty asked if I knew of anybody with a kid's horse for sale, I thought of Virg.  He did have one bad habit that made me not make any guarantees, but I told Rusty if they'd like to try him for his little boy, Cash, he was welcomed to him.  But I didn't sell Virg to them.  He was on loan.....And Virg was great for Cash.  Rusty could lead him and Cash could go with Dad just about anywhere.  When Cash got a little older, Virg was good to him....except when they came to our branding.  Virg knew he was "home" and would try to go to the barn.  Whichever direction they went, Virg knew the way to the barn.  And when Cash outgrew him, Rusty and his neighbor Bob, traded horses so Grace could have an old kid's horse for a little while too.

But now it's Virg's "time".  He's been a good horse.....to quite a few different people.  And even though he hasn't been here for several years, I'll still miss him.  He's part of my history, part of several people's history.  God Speed, My Old Friend.