I was not a tomboy as a kid, but I was no girlie-girl. To this day, I can do about three things with my hair. I didn’t learn how to put on makeup with any real authority until well after I’d graduated from college. I bought my first flirty, girly skirt as a 20-something. I like jeans; I hate high heels.
But when I saw the photos from my friend Stephanie’s wedding, with Steph in her beautiful wedding gown cuddling with her horses, a dream was born. And when Sue Stickle came to do a photo shoot on the farm last month, I decided to run with it.
I didn’t go hog wild. Just a pretty skirt and a little tank top, a blow dryer and some eyeliner. But with Midge and I in a field of wildflowers, and then walking down our pretty gravel road, I fulfilled that little tiny childlike part of me that wanted to be the pretty girl in the pretty dress with the pretty horsey. Midge still upstages me, of course; he upstages everybody. And I swear Sue can make anyone look gorgeous! But I think the end result is still awfully charming!
You can see the rest of the photos (more traditional dressage-y photos of horses under saddle) on my Facebook page. I have lots of photos of Midge under saddle, but not so many of the other three, so they were my riding models. They all were wonderful, but isn’t Fender developing nicely? Pretty great, that guy!
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This is a brief and breezy update because life’s been slow on the horse front. No, that’s not true; I’ve been running myself ragged with clinics and horse shows and teaching off the farm. I have four going to a show at Morven Park this weekend, plus Fender going as a spectator. He’s still not really doing one level securely, and I’ve always believed that once baby horses prove they’re not going to be dreadful at horse shows, they don’t have to go anymore until the work gets fun. So he’s going along for the ride so I can get some lessons on him, something I haven’t had since Scott was here in May.
I’ll have more news from the show. Until then, the kids are great, the weather is hot, and I have more summer squash than I will ever eat in my life… but that won’t stop me from trying!
