12/09/2025
We want to thank Mr Ryan Fox for his purchase of Cricket.
This wasn't just a sale. Cricket was going to be Stockton's next horse. They bonded when he was still on the mare. The summer of '21 was terribly dry with grasshoppers and flies like we've never seen. I kept the mares around and caked them so they would stay in condition. After school started Stockton asked if I'd wait until he got home so he could see Cricket. After weaning, he halter broke him. Which consisted of putting the halter on before Cricket followed him everywhere. We put 10-15 rides on him as a long 2yr old. Put another handful on the next spring. Everything was right on track. And then it wasn't. Through a series of events we'll just call life, Cricket stood the rest of the year. We made plans to get back on track only to have those derailed. Raising horses isn't for the faint of heart. Tough decisions have to be made sometimes. Where do we put our time, money and energy? Do we put it in a 4yr old gelding with 20 rides or a yearling filly that we will try to show and keep in the program? Stockton and I had several conversations about this. Cricket is his horse and needed to be a part of the decision. Like the mature young man he is becoming he finally said "Dad, I think we should try to sell Cricket but I want to sell him to someone that we know so I can see him."
I put the word out to a few of my closest friends what the deal was going to have to be. Jake Fox told me his younger brother Ryan was looking and it might just work out. They came and looked at him. Ryan really liked him and I told him to take Cricket for a week and try him. We needed it to be a fit and if it wasn't, no hard feelings. Over the course of the next couple weeks, I would get a picture of them gathering cows or processing calves. I asked Ryan if he'd roped anything yet and he said no but they'd been roping the dummy. I told him to let me know when he does. 2 days later he sent this picture and we made a deal.
Thank you Ryan for making what was initially a tough decision into one we're glad we made!