ROANIE

when i went to the 76 ranch there wasn't any company horses.  i rode my own for a while and as cheap rock mashers come available the ranch would pick them up. i was pretty picky but at the same time with a limited budget  was limited to what i could buy. there was a brand inspecter who would come on weekends and ride with us. he was a good friend and had stuck his neck out for me a time or two. he wasn't the best help but the entertainment facter was high.  one week end he showed up with his horses to help brand and in his trailer was a little red roan Mexican horse. he probably weighed 900 and had a pretty good body with a well formed head. he showed some breeding and speed with a short cannon bone and a heavy gaskin with hocks close to the ground.  he was a little snorty on the ground and could be hard to mount but once on he was gentle as they come. i bought him for the ranch and was never sorry. his one bad thing he never got over he was hell to shoe behind. he would stand like a statue while you plated his front feet  but pick up a hind foot and the war was on. over the years i found i could get him shod with a shot of ace and not get under him . it was hard on me and sometimes was realy hard on him.  i only rode one other horse who had as much bottom. he would carry my long frame all day and still have a little in the tank when you came in at night. he would drag the biggest calves to the fire like he was horse twice his size and barely break a sweat. as time went on i used him for a practice horse in the arena. as a head horse he was solid but he never quite got the hang of arena heeling.  one memorial day weekend we went to Alfred johnsons to a all day roping. carter, my son was afoot so he loaded roanie. he had never been to a jackpot or behind a barrier but he spent the day turning big steers like he had been down the road his whole life. between runs he stood ground tied and slack hipped by the trailer.  when  the ranch sold i was instructed to liquidate the horses.  i sold him and a couple others to a horse  trader for about what was it cost to buy them.  i wondered for years where he ended up as not just anyone would get along with him. one day i heard a little kid was ropin on him and he was a family pet, but they didn't shoe him and everyone was happy with the deal.  he has a good home and i can tell you he earned it.