Animals!

This week's prompt is "Animals." Living and working on farms, our ancestors were with animals all the time. Here is a collection of my ancestors and relatives with animals over the years.

Bum

The first one, above, is Bum. Bum was owned by my grandpa Thompson. Bum liked to sit on the running board of my grandfather's car and ride into town, sitting on the running board.

Horace Ashley with cat

Next up is my great granduncle Horace Ashley with a farm cat. Horace was my great grandpa Ashley's older brother. He's pictured here with his wife Jesse and an unknown farm cat. Judging by the cat sitting on Horace's shoulders, I think the cat really liked Uncle Horace. He probably also liked the free milk from the cows. 

Boys on outhouse

This picture comes from the Strand family archives. I'm guessing that Carl Strand is one of the boys in this picture. Maybe with brother Howard? Cousin George? Or friends? Either way, an unknown cat made it into the picture.

Strandt siblings with horse

In this picture we have eldest Strandt child, Eva, with, I think, brothers Carl and Howard on a horse.

Carl Strand with horses. Around age 14.

Here is Carl Strand with plough horses when he was around 14 years old. Carl had his horses trained so well he could line them up, and have them walk down the row, ploughing, and wait for him at the end. He was good with horses. Better than his father, which led to conflicts between them.

Carl Strand horses, approx. 1917.

Another picture of Carl Strand's horses.

Ray and Evald Henrickson with horses.

I also have a picture of my grandpa Henrickson with his brother, Evald, and their team of plough horses. 

Ray Henrickson with cows

And last but not least, here is Ray Henrickson with some of his cows. This picture was taken in 2003. He had a great affection for cows.

And there you have it. Animals my ancestors and relatives have known throughout the years. Questions, comments, more information to add? Post them below in the comments or feel free to email me.

Ray Henrickson with horse. Rowdy?

I found this picture after I first published the blog, but I wanted to include it. It just shows how important horses were to farmers before tractors.