""PESKY'S" STORY (aka Old Man)

Here is "Pesky" (aka Old Man)! Name "Pesky Red Sonny" born on April 6, 1982. Sire~Red Sonny Dee, Dam~Pesky Lou. Hubby bought him for $1,200 when he was a 8 year old to use as a heading horse.

He team roped off him and used him for day working off of. Here is his story, which will overlap with how hubby and I started dating. I meet hubby for the first time when him and his cousin brought in his cousin's horse to the clinic where I worked. A few weeks later I went with a friend to a roping practice and saw hubby there roping. My friend was having trouble with his roping horse and hubby was going to ride the horse for him. He asked me to cool down "Pesky" for him. I climbed on and he whispered something in his ear. Later I found out he told the "Old Man to take care of me." How sweet!

When I left there I didn't think I would ever see him again. But the next week he brought in his old mare to have her wolf teeth out and her teeth floated. Said Hi and went about our business. We kept the mare for a couple of days and then he came back to pick her up. We just hit it off and started talking. I'll never forget when he left that today, my boss, came to me and said he is a great guy and I would give you my blessing to date him! That was how Grady was, such a caring man. He has since last his battle with cancer. He is greatly missed by all the cattle people, there isn't another cow vet like him around.

So anyway, that weekend was the Jacksonville rodeo and who do you think was there roping in it? Hubby and the "Old Man!" He told me that I came up to him and asked if I could ride his horse! I didn't remember that! :O We started dating and eventually married and I would warm up and cool down his horse at roping's! ( that was the extent of my riding~until the last four years!) Some of them things were marathon roping's!

Skip forward to when little cowgirl was born. She has been riding since she was born. And he was her first horse and such a great babysitter. As you can see in the picture above, she loved her "Old Man!" And he loved her! There is one time in particular that he and my mare saved her life. We were working some calves and she was in the pen with us, she was sitting on him and he and Angel were tied to the fence. We were dragging calves to the fire and me and hubby both were taking our turns on the ground. A guy roped a calf and drug it out and for some reason he stepped off his horse, which comes to find out is a green roping horse, and when that calf put pressure on the horse off he went. He was running around the pen dragging the calf. He hit the side of Pesky and knocked Savannah off between the two of them. They both looked down and saw her and moved over the top of her to protect her from the horse and calf.

We both got there and she was okay, thank goodness! If they hadn't covered her up, who knows what could of happened. One of our good friends looked at hubby and said you know that horse is priceless. Yes we do, he has taken care of her through her learning and her first couple of years of play days and rodeos. He is a bomb proof horse! One thing I wished I could of done on him is roped off him. I would love to back him in the box and head one with him! He was awesome in the box and such power. He is diffidently a one of a kind and there will never be another one like him. He has been fully retired for the last 2 years and will continue to live out his retirement here. I know I don't even want to thank about losing him, it will be a bad day around here. I do know he will be taken care off until he passes on, he deserves that. I won't let him suffer, we owe him that. I'm having a hard time finishing this with out crying. I do know we are blessed to have such a special horse and I thank God for him everyday. He just means so much to hubby, me and little cowgirl. Thanks "Pesky" for all the years with you and too many, many more together. We love you!

**About the pictures: I had tons of pictures of him and tried to go through and pick just a few! Here is alittle bit about each one:

• The top one is just a head shot I took one day in our pasture
• The next one is one of my favorites, it is framed in our den~it was at a roping
• Roping at a friends house New Years day
• The next one is framed as well in our den it is the last time hubby roped with his dear friend Steve Douglas before he was killed in a truck wreck.
• Savannah hugging him, she has always done this and walked around him, under him, etc. etc.
• Savannah at her rodeo pushing cattle on him~she was always noticed for being so little on such a big horse! He is all of 16" 1!
• Savannah riding him after a sorting at the church.