A Texas teenager was critically injured and later died after he was dragged by a horse while tending to a sick calf in a freak accident Monday.
“Somehow, the man’s leg got tangled, and the horse [dragged] him quite a distance in an open field,” the Lott Volunteer Fire Department told KWTX-TV.
The Falls County Sheriff’s Department confirmed 18-year-old Ace Patton Ashford’s death, writing on Facebook, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Ace Ashford. Our condolences go out to his family.”
“I love you forever ace Patton,” his girlfriend, Sydney Boatright, wrote on her Facebook along with a photo of the two of them. Ashford’s mother, Jamie Ashford, wrote on her Facebook, “I miss you so much Ace! I love you more!”
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Ashford had just graduated from Rosebud-Lott High School in the spring and was preparing to attend Hill College on a rodeo scholarship.
“Ace loved the cowboy way of life and was the true definition of a hard-working country boy,” his obituary said. “Ace loved to rodeo and was known as the ‘Header’ in Team Roping. Ace would dedicate innumerable hours to roping in order to reach his full potential.”
Ashford suffered head injuries and was airlifted to a hospital, where he died, according to KWTX.
“Ace had a heart of gold and was loved by everyone he knew. Ace never met a stranger, and he had an old soul,” the obituary added. “He would stop at nothing to lend a helping hand to anyone in need.”
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Fellow rodeo header Cody Snow called Ashford “about as pure as they get,” according to the Team Roping Journal.
The father of his high school rodeo partner told the Journal, “From the time I spent with him, he didn’t talk a lot, and he didn’t bother nobody. He’d have rather been out there doctoring yearlings than going to a roping sometimes. He was a good kid. It’s so hard to put into words how he was. At the high school rodeos, he’d be the kid who pushed everybody’s steers.”
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Marcus Becerra, who is a rodeo flagger, told the Journal Ashford was “who you want your son to grow up to be. That’s why it hurt quite a bit. Everybody knows how good a kid he was, how cordial he was, how respectful he was. He was good with horses, he had manners and he was a real great kid.
“Flagging, you meet these kids when they’re young, and you get to know them. You see from the time they’re little, and you get to watch them win and you pull for them.”
