BEAUTIFUL LOSS Ace Patton Ashford, 18, dies in a freak accident with his horse just weeks before he was supposed to reach a lifelong goal.

THIS WEEK, A YOUNG rodeo roper died when his horse pulled him across an open field and killed him.

A 18-year-old man named Ace Patton Ashford was killed while helping a sick cow on August 12.

Around 8 a.m., the terrible event took place in the Chilton, Texas, area, which is about 20 miles south of Waco.

NBC affiliate KPLCTV says that bad things happened when a nearby horse got scared by Ashford and the calf.

“The man’s leg got caught, and the horse dragged him a long way in an open field,” the Lott Volunteer Fire Department said.

Ashford was found with wounds to his head, but his heart was beating and he was breathing.

He was then flown to a hospital, but his injuries were so bad that he died there.

Ashford was in “bad shape” when first responders found him, they said.

It was almost time for Ashford to reach a lifelong goal this summer. He was a skilled roper in Texas.

Before the terrible event, the 18-year-old was only a few weeks away from starting college.

It was his last day at Rosebud-Lott High School, and in the fall he was going to Hill College.

His obituary talked about how much he loved rodeo and Western life.

“Ace would dedicate innumerable hours to roping in order to reach his full potential,” the note said.

“Ace loved spending his time in the great outdoors hunting, rodeoing, or just hanging out with his buddies,” this obituary said.

“Everyone who knew Ace loved him very much.”

“Ace never met a stranger, and he had an old soul.”

On the obituary site, people wrote sad tributes to the 18-year-old.

I thought Ace was a really cool young man. One person wrote, “He was so kind and funny that the sun shone brighter around him.”

Someone else said, “Ace was a great person who was polite and ready for the future.”

RODEO LIFE

Sports Illustrated says that Ashford was born into a family that loved animals because both of his parents were rodeo competitors.

His older brother Ross had also competed and made it to the National Finals.

Sharon Boatright, Ashford’s girlfriend, also wrote a small tribute to him on Facebook.

“I love you forever Ace Patton,” she wrote next to a picture of the two of them.