The Gold

Well, I said I would post a bit about GoldMember this weekend & I’m barely makin’ it, huh?  Here ya go…

Gold is a paint gelding, 10 years old & as sweet as can be.  He actually belongs to a friend of ours, Jason, from TX.  It’s a long story, so I should just stick to the most important parts…When were looking at ranch jobs, we knew we would need a ranch horse.  So, Joey asked Jason’s brother if they knew of anyone that had good ranch horse prospects.  He said Jason had 2 that needed to be ridden & used, as they were just out to pasture at that time.  In the few days that transpired between that first conversation with Jason’s brother & then Jason directly, one of the horses injured his leg quite badly.  That horse was the Gold.  Initially, Jason wanted us to use Sally, the other of his 2 horses, because his sister is esp. fond of Gold and wanted to take care of Gold for her brother.  After Gold’s injury, however, Jason was worried and not sure how he was going to manage the care of Gold’s leg.  The injury would require a dressing change every other day, along with a watchful eye in between.  He works full time and is finishing up some classes this fall at a local college before heading off to Texas Tech in January.  (Jason has been blessed with a full SCHOLARSHIP to finish his degree in Agriculture.  Yippee!!  We’re so thrilled and excited for this opportunity the LORD has obviously placed before him.)  Jason’s mom told us about Gold’s leg and we were horrified to hear how serious it was.  Joey felt led to call Jason to tell him we would take Gold & care for him.  I think he about cried with relief!    Jason brought the Gold over the next day (that was in July) & he’s been with us ever since.  When the opportunity in NE was presented we talked to Jason to see if he wanted us to bring Gold up here with us or not.  Gold’s leg was not sound yet (although tons better!) & still needed constant care.  He said yes, because there was no one else that would take better care of him…aaawww, wasn’t that sweet?  Jason knows about our use of homeopathy & had watched the amazing changes in Gold’s leg before we left TX.  Gold’s leg has been healing WAY ahead of schedule, according to the vet’s time line.

So, anyhoo…Gold’s here & doing well…his leg is just about back to normal.  We still keep it wrapped to protect the new flesh for a while.  We are just being extra cautious.  We began riding him not too long after we arrived… He is so good & gentle with the children.  He patiently waits while the girls braid his mane and tail or brush him until his coat gleams.  I’ve never had one worry when the children take off & ride around the ranch with Gold.  He is also learning new skills, as Jason had mostly roped off him.  On the ranch, Gold gets to do everything…move cattle, sort, rope, open gates, entertain children, etc…there have been some frustrating times for Joey, when Goldie just wants to rate cows, instead of cut’em & other stubborn nonsense…but I’m convinced Goldie will come around…he & Joey need to work on some things…

So, what does it mean to rate a cow? Good question!  It simply refers to a roping horse keeping pace with a cow & lines you up with the cow’s back quarter.  When a horse does its’ job, you can just drop the lariat right over the steer’s head….or hop over & ride’em cowboy!  Just kidding…

Here’s a picture of Goldie before we left TX.  Believe it or not, we haven’t taken a good picture of the children riding yet.  We had some on Bren’s camera, but somehow her entire memory card messed up and we lost all the pictures!  argghhh…  So, there will be some updated ones very soon.

No one wanted to use a pink bandage that day, but the color selection was limited at the time.

We love Goldie so much.  When the time comes for Jason to take him home (after he finishes his degree), it will be a very bittersweet goodbye.  In the meantime, we get to enjoy a wonderful, sweet-natured & extremely intelligent creature…Goldie needed us, but we didn’t know how much we would need him. 

love ya!