Milliron Monday: Coyote Pete 10 15 18

Abbott "Pete" Smith, D.V.M.
June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010

Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and  Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017). A graduate of Colorado State University and a well-known veterinarian in southeast, Ohio, Dr. Smith continues to motivate and inspire. Follow along every Milliron Monday to revisit Dr. Smith's biography. 

Besides his love of animals, Pete was a gifted writer. During high school, he wrote essays about his life as a teen cowboy and life in general. He also penned poems, giving us insight into his life on the range, horses, and more. A year before the launch of Milliron, Jody, Pete's widow, found a notebook of Pete's high school essays, including this poem...

Coyote Pete

Behind the chutes the boys was crouched

Their whole attention spent

On drawin’ straws and hopin’ for

A hoss as was hell-bent.

Jick drawed a hoss named Coyote Pete

Like in the comic strip

And stretched his legs and waited for

His turn to make the trip.

The doggin’ came, the barebacks went

(The ropin’ was plumb through.)

And then at last came saddle broncs and

One last swig ‘o ‘dew.

The saddle – she was cinched up tight

The flank strap was drawed down

Jick eased onto that bronc’s back

And gave a look aroun’!

He tucked his hat and stuck his spurs

Into “Coyote’s” shoulder blades

Then he whispered “Let ‘im out,”

And things began to blaze.

That hoss went ten feet in the air

An’ crashed into the fences

He whirled and bucked and kicked and ran

Like ‘s if he’d lost ‘is senses!

But ol’ Jick hung to like a burr

An’ never give an inch

For since the very first he had

Been hangin’ to the fence.

More next week about the hidden essays and Pete's adventures, including more horses. Speaking of horses... every horse person in the State of Ohio is probably at the All American Quarter Horse Congress right now. The Congress is the event of the year (oh, yeah, Equine Affaire is up there, too) for Ohio horse people and the USA in general. It is the largest one-breed horse show in the world, and it's in my own backyard (an hour away). If you're at Congress and purchase a souvenir program, check out our advertisement for Milliron. We appreciate connecting with you. Enjoy Congress (while I am home cleaning stalls today and enjoying my own Quarter Horses). Maybe I'll see you there next week. Thanks, Pete, for loving horses as much as I do.

If you have a story photo, or other memory to share about Dr. Smith, please send it to mondaycreekpublishing@gmail.com to be included in Tails of a Country Vet Volume II.

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Milliron: The Biography

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Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.