Blizzard

Blizzard
　
Buck was ridin’ the fence line
One December day.
It was snowin’ pretty heavy
But it had to be done anyway.

He was ridin’ old Red
And they were plodding through the snow
When it started getting worse
And the wind began to blow.

He thought he’d finish his shift
So he kept on ridin’ out
Into the bowels of the blizzard
And Red went on without a doubt.

When his skin started freezin’
He buttoned his sheepskin coat,
Tied a scarf around his ears
And covered up his throat.

He only had his fencin’ gloves
So he put his hands up in his sleeves,
Still grippin’ on the reins
And watchin’ his own breath freeze.

Red’s was getting icy too,
Formin’ a block about his nose.
The cowboy and his horse kept going on,
Now he couldn’t feel his toes.

He had no idea where he was
Or where he’d left the trail,
He was in a full-blown white out,
He couldn’t see from nose to tail.

By now he was so frozen
That his legs wouldn’t bend.
He couldn’t get out of the saddle
Even if he found shelter from the wind.

Old Red just kept on walkin’
And Buck just held on tight,
Tryin’ to hum a cowboy tune
And calm some of his fright.

They walked for what seemed like hours
And no one knows what happened from there
But when they found them, so near the barn,
It put up quite a scare.

Old Red had frozen still standing,
And Buck, they couldn’t tell.
The foreman eased up slow and steady,
Said, “They must have been through hell.”

Buck was frozen in the saddle,
His hands still on the reins.
He’d tipped his hat to the frigid winds,
Winter’s downright dangerous on the plains.

The boys held a cowboy service
For him and Red, one at a time.
They’ll always remember their ride together,
Just tryin’ to finish the line.