10/12/07 Pick and Pat II

Could two colts be worth two years of part-time summer work? I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to tell you if they could. Pick and Pat were two stud colts Dad raised when he got to use a Thoroughbred stallion to bred his mares in payment for working as a pick-up man for a rodeo producer during two summers. The colts were out of Hamiltonian bred mares so they were horses with good bone and feet to carry them in our rocky, steep pastures and plenty of speed for ranch work supplied by the Thoroughbred blood. Granddad never let horses be ridden until they were four or five years old, so the young fireballs were pretty set in their ways by the time they felt a saddle. Pick actually got wire cut fairly bad and Dad gave him to my uncle since he thought he could heal the cut and have a sound horse. This gave Pick another year to plan his tricks. Groundwork wasn't even in Granddad's vocabulary so Pat was just gentled enough to saddle him then the rest was up to Dad's riding ability and having a will stronger than Pat's. There were times I'm sure Dad figured paying the neighbor for the chance to work would have been better than acquiring the colts for payment. To make a long training period short, Dad and my uncle both persevered and by the time I was old enough to know the horses they were both good ranch horses with plenty of stories about their abilities. Anytime Dad needed to get a job done he saddled Pat. There are still four of Pat's great-grandsons on our place. I always thought Dad got plenty of payment for his summer's work; besides, one of those descendants is my horse. I'm Jeff Keane.