The passing of a good ole’ boy

[Joshua Kingsley]

As I sit here I reflect on the good days and the smell of sweat and leather and the joys of working with a damned good horse and tears roll down my face.

The slushy spring snow and the warm wind are good indicators of sugaring season. This year spring comes with a heavy price as my gelding is found down and unable to stand. This is the end of his reign on our little world and I remember pulling some good sized trees across the very pasture that he was in this morning. The big gelding with his soft brown eyes has been a driving force in my recovery and wanting to get back into the woods.

The passing of a good horse is always hard and yet when it is the favored old member of my original team that I paired up. The last 6 years he has taught me many things and all I can do to repay him is end his suffering and then celebrate his life.
For a memorial my dad has suggested starting an orchard where he is buried and let his legacy live on as the good times will always be on your mind as you think about how he was a solid worker no matter what was paired with him. He broke wild 5 and 6 year old stock that people dropped off and never groaned or grumbled, and would give his all to the point of hitting his belly to the ground digging to get out that heavy log.

Randy you will be missed by me greatly and for the first time in a long time I saw tears in my dad’s eyes at your passing.

Pull hard in the heavens and don’t let those colts get in your way.

Good bye old fella.
Joshua

[Carl Russell]

My heart goes out to you Josh. Don’t be afraid of the grief, traveling into it will help you find those joyful memories that will stay with you forever.

Carl

[sanhestar]

I feel with you…..

[Joshua Kingsley]

Thanks for all your kind words. It is hard having a partner pass and now I have to look to the future.

The bright spot is the 5 month old filly and her dam in the pasture who are a warm spot in the dark and dreary day.

Joshua

[near horse]

Josh – My deepest sympathy for you and your dad. I think we all dread the day we lose a beloved member of our team but it will happen to us all, eventually. As Carl says, grieve his loss, celebrate his memory and rejoice in the things that made Randy a special horse. Look to the future and store his memory close to your heart.

Take care.

[Jean]

Josh, so sorry to read this. I drove by your house yesterday looking for a pony and for some reason I got too shy to stop. Now I know why.

May Randy be pulling just what he wants now, with the best teammate he could imagine.

Jean

[Joshua Kingsley]

Jean,
The ponies are in the old barn that looks like it is falling in…. If they were in the pasture then Jess would get her way a half shetland half suffolk and that ain’t never gonna happen with my good mare 🙂 but then again it would be awful cute:rolleyes:… some day she may get the cross but with some other draft mare.

Feel free to stop by any time or drop me a note when you are going to be in the area.
Joshua

[Joshua Kingsley]

Randy is the horse that is closest to the camera. This photo was about the last time he was hooked in 2008. Even after 3 and 1/2 months I still look out into the pasture and look for him. Then when I go into our new orchard that Dad and Mom put in I am able to be with him. Pears that he loved at his head and then peaches, plumbs, a couple of cherries, then apples and crab apples around the edge with a few Blueberries. I think this is the best way that they could have ever chosen to give me a place to always remember a great teammate.

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