Written by: Darby O’Connor
You never truly realize the impact that small, caring actions have until the person who spreads them is taken from you. If you have spent any time in the livestock barns in West Texas, you would be sure to notice the contagious smile and extremely helpful hand always lent from our dear friend Caden Horton.
Taken from us too early, Caden leaves a legacy behind that shines light on who we want to be as humans, cattlemen and neighbors. Here are some of the meaningful messages we learned from our time with Caden.
When reflecting back to time with Caden, it is certain he was going about his way with a huge contiguous smile on his face. “Some of the people who reached out after Caden’s passing didn’t even know him well,” said Craig, Caden’s father, “but that is just Caden, he just stuck out as a friendly guy in the show barn.”
Maybe it was his big smile or his big personality, but if you met Caden once, it’d be easy to call you a friend for a lifetime. “We had an overwhelming amount of people reach out to us after his passing, but more than I would like to admit I would have to ask ‘now who is that again’ and not even his brother knew all the masses of people Caden considered friends,” said Caden’s mother, Kenni with a laugh. “But that is the kind of kid he was, Caden knew no stranger and it ended up leaving him with some very special friendships.”
“It was amazing how people from all over the country were giving their condolences,” Kenni said. “We had people from Tennessee, Alabama and all over reach out. More often than not, they simply knew Caden from helping them load out or ultimately just lending a helping hand.”
Craig and Kenni reflected that Caden was often more excited for the victories of those he helped, than his own. Winning only five buckles in his show career, some of his biggest moments were when the people he loved did well.“Caden showed up and treated every show like it was Fort Worth,” Craig said. “And the fun part in that mindset is that he celebrated the win like it was Fort Worth too.”
Caden always wore black because “it looked best against the backdrop”. We hope to continue to be like Caden and show up with the mindset of how winning can be exciting but helping others succeed is the grandest victory of all.
“If anybody that said Caden was always sweet, they didn’t know him,” laughed Craig. “But what they meant by that is that Caden always demanded performance.” Kenni shared that he always expected the best from people, and often used his blunt honesty to share when someone isn’t showing up their capabilities. “He was kind, but he was honest,” Kenni said.
Craig shared a time they watched Caden judge showmanship, remembering him smiling and interaction with the juniors. “But then he starts talking his reasons and he holds nothing back,” laughed Craig. However, Kenni said it is because he did it to help the kids down the road. “It is a serious thing, and he treated it as such,” Kenni said. Craig and Kenni both shared that his honesty and desire for people to do better was respected by the parents of the junior showman that day and others who worked with him.
Caden simply lived by “Show right, feed right and do right” and expected others to live by that as well.
Caden is the oldest son of his five siblings, with an older sister, two younger brothers and the baby girl. Caden’s parents shared “no one else better fight with his brothers, that’s his job” as they laughed. Kenni said “but more importantly no one better look crossways at his baby sister,” showing how protective he could be as the big brother.
But family loyalty is sometimes expected, however a recurring theme when receiving condolences people often shared that they viewed Caden as family.
“Everybody said he was a brother. He was a son. He was family,” Craig said. “And the reason they said that was because the thing that was the common denominator, and I may be bragging here, but it was Caden. He loved people like they were family. And he treated him like they were family. And he did it authentically, intentionally and with loyalty.”
Our time with Caden was short but was rich in him showing us ways to better live our lives. Caden’s passing has led to endless stories of how he impacted lives forever, and the legacy he leaves with us. Though we will miss the smile on his face and our time with him in the cattle barn, we are left with some impactful messages he left and the standard of acting authentically, intentionally and loyally for those we care about.
The family suggests memorial contributions be sent to the Caden Horton Love Fund, Vista Bank, P.O. Box 1020, Hale Center, TX 79041.
Click here to read the full article on page 65 in the Purple Circle