A tribute to Shiloh…

The 2023 National Western Stock Show and Rodeo has concluded.  It’s a major event in Denver and it’s also one of the first, big, rodeos to start off the 2023 competitive circuit for the PRCA – Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association as well as the PBR – Professional Bull Riders. 

I’ve written before that I’m no cowboy.  I didn’t even grow up among large farm animals.  A Chicago suburbanite was my childhood and high school setting.  Attending college in rural, western Illinois I do remember that certain aroma constantly permeating the air.  Attending the National Western brought back that vivid memory.  Talk to a rancher, farmer, or cowboy about it and they will usually shrug and say it, “smells like money”. 

I learned about that side of the aroma myself, when my son and wife decided we should adopt wild horses from the Bureau of Land Management.  Adopt we did – 4 mustangs in all.  Our last, Kahlua (on the right), is still grazing in our back yard.  And yes, our backyard, “smells like money”. 

It’s funny how you can bump into horse people these days without even knowing on surface that they are horse people. 

I met a Best-Selling Author recently, Rodney Barker (see www.rodneybarkerauthor.com ).  Turns out we have many things in common; both graduates of Knox College; both college athletes (he played football, I played basketball); both writers (he’s successful, I’m well let’s call it “aspiring”).  We are also both horse people. 

Rodney has extended his affection for horses into quite a unique and beautifully artistic pursuit (see www.trailofpaintedponies.com ).  Further coincidence, Rod’s horse is named Shyloh; mine was named Shiloh. 

I say “was”, because my Shiloh died a couple of years ago.  Heartbreaking as every horse owner knows. 

Another horse owner, Amy Fear-Helbok, a graduate of Westernaires who rode with my son (Westernaires was the organization that introduced our family to the traditions of the American West and the beauty of our wild American Mustangs.  See www.westernaires.org ) posted this tribute on Facebook when her horse died: 

The Rainbow Bridge For Horses 

By the edge of a woods,

at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow

where time stands still.

Where the friends of man

and woman do run,

when their time on earth

is over and done.

 

For here, between this world

and the next,

Is a place where

beloved creatures find rest. 

On this golden land,

they wait and they play

Til The Rainbow Bridge

they cross over one day.

 

No more do they suffer,

in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole,

their lives filled with gladness. 

Their limbs are restored,

their health renewed. 

Their bodies have healed

with strength imbued.

 

They trot through the grass

without even a care,

Til one day they whinny

and sniff at the air. 

All ears prick forward,

eyes sharp and alert.

Then all of a sudden,

one breaks from the herd.

 

For just at that second,

there’s no room for remorse. 

As they see each other…

one person… one horse.

So they run to each other,

these friends from long past

The time of their parting

is over at last.

 

The sadness they felt

while they were apart

Has turned to joy

once more in each heart. 

They nuzzle with a love

that will last forever. 

And then, side-by-side,

                they cross over… together.                                                           

Author Unknown 

I too will reunite with Shiloh one day and cross that bridge. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.