"Old Red's Revival"

The story that inspired the big event...

Before she was known as “Old Red,” she was simply “Red.” She was sunburnt with tangled hair and sleeping in any old broken-down barn she could find East of the Mississippi. No one ever knew where she had come from, but if you asked Red, she would tell you that she was born with spurs on her paws and a wide-brimmed hat atop her heart. Life was rough for a tiny cowdog with no home, dodging coyotes and hunger pains as she sojourned from town to town, picking up and dropping off other strays she met along the way. One thing was certain: she did not lack grit and had a wag that refused to quit.

On a hot summer day, Red hitched a ride on a boxcar and jumped off in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania, where she was given a new lease on life and a soft bed because a kind stranger she met along the road looked her in the eyes and didn’t see a stray. They saw a companion. When her paws first hit the green clover up north, she did a gleeful two-step, knowing she had finally found her forever prairie.

Now Red’s days are filled with long naps in the middle of a pasture full of friendly horses and donkeys, speedy runs on wooded trails, line dancing with chickens at the local saloon, and sunbathing with her favorite barn cat, Willay. She even has a whole new chosen family made up of other dogs: Virgil, Wyatt, Doc, and Moonshine, who stick loyalty by her side on her daily adventures. She’s still got the soul of a cowgirl, but these days her rodeos are more “chase the tennis ball” than “run for your life.” Her heart is fuller. Her belly is rounder. Her hat brim is as wide as her smile. And she’s got a new mission: helping other four-leggeds find the love that she almost missed out on.

That’s what Old Red’s Revival is all about: celebrating new beginnings and the boundless joy of loving (and being loved by) rescue animals.

Come for the music, the dancing, the bull rides, and the BBQ, but stay for the new friends you will meet. And be on close lookout for Red, who may just be there, elusively weaving in and out of the crowd, flanked on each side by clusters of other cowgirls, all ready to melt your heart.

You may also like the following events from True Friends Animal Welfare Center:

• Next month, 20th September, 12:00 pm, Woofstock 2025 in Montrose

Also check out other Sports events in New Milford, Trips & Adventurous Activities in New Milford.