A Texas community is mourning the death of an 18-year-old junior rodeo champion who died in a freak accident involving a horse.
Ace Patton Ashford of Lott, Texas, was taking care of a sick calf at around 8 a.m. local time on Monday, Aug. 12, near Chilton, when a horse nearby got spooked, a representative for the Lott Volunteer Fire Department told CBS affiliate KWTX-TV.
“Somehow, the man’s leg got tangled and the horse [dragged] him quite a distance in an open field,” the Lott VFD official told KWTX.
When first responders got to Ashford, he was breathing and had a pulse but had suffered extensive head injuries.
The recent high school graduate was airlifted to Baylor Scott & White Hospital where he died, according to his obituary.
Now, friends and family members are remembering the “amazing and humble young man” who lived in the small town of Lott (pop. 650) his entire life, but had big dreams to make it as a rodeo cowboy.
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A graduate of Rosebud-Lott High School, Ashford received a scholarship to Hill College in Hillsboro, and was set to become a member of its rodeo team this fall.
“Ace loved the cowboy way of life and was the true definition of a hard-working country boy,” according to his obituary. “Ace would dedicate innumerable hours to roping in order to reach his full potential.”
The teenager was an accomplished roper who began competing on the rodeo circuit at age 4, according to The Team Roping Journal.
Over the past year, Ashford had widespread success in the arena, placing “all over” Arizona during Vegas Week in December, and winning in the warm-up at the World Youth Team Roping Championship and at The Patriot and Philipp Ranch this summer, per the Roping Journal.
“That’s who you want your son to grow up to be,” roping flagger Marcus Becerra told the publication. “That’s why it hurt quite a bit. Everybody knows how good a kid he was, how cordial he was, how respectful he was. He was good with horses, he had manners and he was a real great kid.”
The younger brother of National Finals Rodeo heeler Ross Ashford, Ace also enjoyed spending time with his girlfriend of three years, Sydney Boatright, his obituary states.
Hours after Ace’s death, Boatright updated her profile picture on Facebook with an image of the two embracing in a field.
“I love you forever ace patton,” she wrote with a heart emoji.
