Brian Hornby finds new best friend

Mr Hornby whisked the American Blue Cattle dog back to his eight acre farm in Griffith and within a few months Trumby was hard at work herding sheep, goats, and cattle.

Hard work is the secret to a happy dog, Mr Hornby reckons, and he also insists it's the secret to human happiness.

"Don't ever retire, I tell you. Even if you have a million dollars, don't do it," Mr Hornby said.

"If you keep working you'll last a long time."

It's a philosophy he's kept with him into his 80s, and to this day Mr Hornby can be found getting his hands dirty on his farm or doing contractor work for Griffith City Council.

Trumby seems to share his master's philosophy, because he always throws himself into his work with a wagging tail and shining eyes.

When it comes to hard, wholesome work, Mr Hornby believes Griffith is the place to do it.

"I'd reckon this town would be the best town in the world," Mr Hornby said.

"It's rich and it's got water, and I saw how it got there."

In Mr Hornby's younger days he saw Griffith turn from a desert into a thriving irrigation community.

Over the years he has seen weirs, canals, and holding ponds spring up throughout the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, and he was employed in the construction of many of them.

But water alone wasn't enough to make Griffith the place it is today; it required optimism, ingenuity, and above all, hard work.

That's the pioneering spirit Mr Hornsby wants to embody, he says, even as his body falters in his old age.

He's had surgery done on his throat, and much of his teeth have fallen out as the years sped by.

He still has that same spark in his eyes and enthusiasm for work as he's always had, but he's finding it increasingly difficult to get all the work done that he wants to do. 

But thankfully he doesn't have to do it alone.

Even when Mr Hornsby grows unsteady on his two legs, he knows he'll have the love and support of a hardworking friend who has four.

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