Parker County Today December 2015 | Page 73

Our Food, Your Home! Call 817-599-3907 For All Of Your Catering Needs Open: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. Daily | 1921 S. Main St. | Weatherford, TX | 817.599.4229 LONE STAR SAWMILL lonestarsawmill.com Up To 24’ Cut To Order! Located in Parker County. Local Delivery Available. Specializing in FARM & RANCH LUMBER Greg Reger •Custom Cut Lumber •Decorative Cedar •Quarter Rounds •Trailer Flooring •Fireplace Mantles 682-333-4884 Lone Star Mill and Lumber LLC DECEMBER 2015 PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY hoarse and Peptoboonsmal was the NCHA Open Division Champion. It was as much of a victory for Royal Blue Boon as it was for Peptoboonsmal. Elaine was both proud and pensive. Months later, with Larry’s illness progressing, he ended his life in the gray homestead on the cutting horse farm that he’d loved. In the wake of her husband’s death, Elaine had numerous offers to buy the entire operation as well as others to buy Peptoboonsmal or Royal Blue Boon. She politely declined. For Elaine there wasn’t much time for dealing with grief. “I immediately went to work promoting Peptoboonsmal,” she said. “I was pretty much forced into that. Oh, I could have sold Pepto and gone off and spent the rest of my life having a great time in Hawaii. But, I loved Larry so much, and he wouldn’t want me to do that.” Before Larry’s death Elaine had been working quietly behind the scenes, taking care of the business end of the cutting horse operations. She’d written every check, paid all the bills and sent in the horses’ registration forms. “People thought, ‘Elaine knows nothing about the cutting horse business,’” Elaine said. “I’d lived with his illness for years. I’d never worn a cowboy hat, never rode a cutting horse. My son and my husband did those things together. When Larry died my life was in shambles.” Elaine put her life and her business back together-all with the great mare at her side. Marketing was new territory to her. “When I took over Peptoboonsmal, people just didn’t think I could do it at all,” Elaine said. “I had always been in the background. Larry had been the one in the spotlight, the promoter. I spent so much of my time over the next 13 years promoting Peptoboonsmal.” Elaine went to every cutting event she could attend. She ordered giant posters of Pepto, a flashy pink golf cart for tooling potential clients around the farm, and she purchased 71