Who would have guessed that buying a load of cattle would give you a companion for eight years? Through a deal of buying cattle from Texas, Joe Smith received quarter horse that was used for cutting the cattle. A black beauty with just a star and white socks became the new horse of Pat Smith, Joe’s son.

When Pat went off to war in Vietnam, he left Beauty in Kathy’s,his sister, charge. It didn’t take Kathy long to realize that there was something special about this horse. “She was always smarter than me…without a doubt smarter than me,” acknowledge Kathy. Not only was Beauty a clever horse, but she
a beloved friend to Kathy. “Beauty was always there to listen,” said Kathy. “I could talk about everything and anything with her.” Beauty helped calm her fear of her brother never returning. Kathy spent most of her time in the barn brushing and talking.

Beauty wasn’t only a listener, she was Kathy’s transportation. Her parents said that their kids could go anywhere (within reason), but they would get a ride from them. So Beauty became her ride to track practice and any friends’ house. “I would take her everywhere. She even went through the Dairy Queen Drive-Through,” laugh Kathy.

When asked one of the memorable moments with Beauty; assuming it would be an adventure that she and Beauty took, instead her response surprised me. Once when walking through the barn, Beauty accidentally took Kathy as another horse. In response, Beauty kicked her, hitting her in the leg. “It wasn’t her fault; I should have been talking to her. I couldn’t wear shorts that whole summer. My leg looked really bad.”

When Pat came back from Vietnam, Kathy and he would go out riding with Beauty. Even though Beauty was his horse, she stayed with Kathy. From a deal of buying cattle turned out to be the joining of two friends that needed and took care of each other for eight short years.