JUDITH DARLENE HAMMER

MAY 31, 1938 – AUGUST 8, 2023

Part 20 was published January 8, 2024, and can be found here.

Team of Horses

We wanted some bigger Haflingers so we sold our small team. Judy and I brought a bigger team in Missouri. Their names were Jake and Whopper. They were a good gentle team and worked good together. We never sold them, we just retired them after I quit driving about six years ago. Whopper died and I still have Jake. He is running free with my saddle horse whose name is Tom.

We were always in the Kit Carson Day parade.

Funerals

We also used our team of horses for funerals. With the smaller team we hauled Brent and Blayne Batterton’s father’s ashes from the church to the cemetery in Eads. Brent, Blayne, and their mother rode in the buggy with the ashes. The pallbearers rode on the wagon. Dale Allen brought his team from Ordway to pull the wagon.

We hauled our friend, Bob Paintin, from the church in Flagler to the cemetery with Jake and Whopper.

We Hauled our friend, Allen Naugle, from the Wild Horse School to the Wild Hose cemetery.

We also hauled a newlywed couple around Kit Carson to celebrate their wedding.

Bluegrass Festivals

Judy and I liked to go to the Bluegrass Festivals. Our favorite festival was in Colby, Kansas. We took my sister, Jean, and husband, Bill, one time, and they really enjoyed it. As we were driving home after dark, Bill and I both looked to the right at the same time. There was a deer head looking in the side glass. We thought for sure he would hit the car. By a miracle we got past him.

We also enjoyed Bluegrass in Holly and Westcliff Colorado.

Our daughter, Kim, and her husband went to Colby with us for our last Bluegrass festival.