{"id":19597,"date":"2023-05-17T00:45:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T00:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=19597"},"modified":"2023-05-16T19:48:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:48:05","slug":"two-old-friends-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/17\/two-old-friends-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Old Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Bryce Angell – The outdoors has always been a large part of my life. My father was an outfitter and guide for 35 years and I was there to shoe and care for the horses and help him do the cooking. We took many great trips into the Yellowstone area. Even now that I\u2019m older, we still ride into the Tetons, Yellowstone and surrounding areas. My poems are mostly of personal experience. I am now retired and enjoying life to the fullest. I plan to do more riding and writing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I placed the saddle on his back, then pulled the cinch up tight. Old Cyrus turned and looked at me. He knew we\u2019d be all right.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d seen that look a thousand times. We\u2019d earned each other\u2019s trust. And at my age a gentle horse for danged sure is a must.<\/p>\n

Old Cyrus ain\u2019t no young one. I\u2019d say prob\u2019ly twenty-two. In human years we\u2019re \u2018bout the same. They say a rest is due.<\/p>\n

I wonder if old Cyrus feels the stiffness from his age. The way my crooked fingers feel from rheumatism\u2019s rage.<\/p>\n

It seems like only yesterday, when I went off to work. The old men called me youngster and that drove me plumb berserk.<\/p>\n

But now I look at Cyrus. He and I have both grown old. Now no one calls me youngster. It\u2019s the wrinkles, I\u2019ve been told.<\/p>\n

And Cyrus doesn\u2019t seem to have that spring left in his step. It\u2019s obvious the two of us have up and lost our pep.<\/p>\n

Some cowboys say that when a horse has lost his usefulness, \u201cJust take him to the sale. It\u2019s not a sign of selfishness.\u201d<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t imagine any other fellow on my horse. The bond between a horse and rider shares a mighty force.<\/p>\n

Old Cyrus has been good to me and I\u2019ve been good to him. The chance of selling Cyrus, well, I\u2019d say it\u2019s mighty slim.<\/p>\n

Most trainers tell you that a horse should never be a friend. I guess I broke that rule, \u2018cuz he\u2019s my friend right to the end.<\/p>\n

I owe it to my horse to never let him be alone. Some call it foolish but to me a debt that\u2019s carved in stone.<\/p>\n

So soon enough we\u2019ll turn him out to pasture for a time. I\u2019ll feed and keep him company and hope that God is kind.<\/p>\n

And may there be a place for him, up there in Heaven\u2019s great. I hope I\u2019m close behind him. May it be the shortest wait.<\/p>\n

And when I get so doggone old and need someone to care. I hope I\u2019m treated kindly \u2019til I meet old Cyrus there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I placed the saddle on his back, then pulled the cinch up tight. Old Cyrus turned and looked at me. He knew we\u2019d be all right. I\u2019d seen that look a thousand times. We\u2019d earned each other\u2019s trust. And at my age a gentle horse for danged sure is a must. Old Cyrus ain\u2019t no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cowboy-poetry","7":"category-commentary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19600,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19597\/revisions\/19600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}