For Love of a Gray Horse: Second Installment of The Trip

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Second Installment of The Trip

Above: Gray Stud Mouse, Mouse's sire

The horse that we're breeding Mouse to next month.

Huston has been telling me that I should breed Mouse for a while now. He told me that Mouse was too good of a horse and too well bred not to pass on her lineage. So, we left Mouse with Huston in Missouri so that she could be bred to a Missouri Traveler stud that belongs to Dale and Donna Nissen, who also own Mouse's sire, Gray Stud Mouse. There is a picture below of Gray Stud Mouse with Huston and also I've put a full body shot with this post. You can see in this photo just how much Mouse looks like him. I was thrilled that I got the opportunity to meet both horses and "The Honey Horse" which is Mouse's grandfather on her mother's side....I know this is getting complicated. All of Dale and Donna's stallions are so sweet tempered and people friendly. The photo that I have of the Traveler stud is very blurry because it was taken inside the barn with very little light but this was the friendliest guy, he loves attention. I was petting him and loving on him and you would never have known that he was a stallion. When I stopped noticing him and started talking to the people, he reached over and started nuzzling me, lol. Between his dispostion and Mouse's, we ought to get a sweet baby. I'm so excited and it was such fun visiting the Nissan farm which is gorgeous--you feel as if you are miles away from the rest of the world out there, meeting Dale and meeting the stallions which were all special and gorgeous.

Huston tells me that it is a joy having Mouse back on his farm for a while. He plans on showing her this summer and this weekend he will be showing her off in a twenty mile charity ride in Long Lane, Missouri. He told me that there will be between a 100 and 150 horses on the ride. I told him that we will have the best horse there and he said, "You bet we will!" I think we both are more than a little smitten with this horse:)

I'll probably be posting at least two more posts about the trip. One will be about the trail ride we went on last Saturday and the next about the two horses we brought back home with us...yes, TWO:)

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About Me & Gray Horse Designs

I've always had artistic leanings. I was drawing stick figures before I could talk. Friends recall that I was constantly drawing or painting as a child. I grew up and I did major in art in college but I never could find direction. I kept switching majors and trying so many different things trying to find the one that fit, the one that fulfilled me. I seemed destined for a while to be a lifetime student. Then one day, I found myself out of work, burned out on school, and very depressed because I'd also just suffered a miscarriage. I was alone at home and totally at loose ends when I picked up a piece of wood and began to see a horse in it. The irony of that will become more evident later in this story but the truth was, that as soon as I touched a knife to that block of wood, it was magic. I felt as if I'd come home. From that one piece of scrap wood and a small cheap craft knife, a business grew and took on a life of its own. I started creating whimsical, wood sculptures and I sold my work all over the world. Then one day, at a crafts exhibition in Chicago, I met the head of Enesco's new gift wares section and my career took off in yet another direction. I designed several very successful lines for them over the next five years but after fifteen years in this business, I started slowing down and losing my enthusiasm. I decided that I'd try another medium but like trying to find my direction in life those many years before, this wasn't an easy task.

I knew that I still wanted to be creative but I didn't know what medium I wanted to try next. So, I tried many but no magic, no flashes of inspiration. Then one day, my husband and I were sitting on a Mexican beach relaxing and enjoying the salty breezes and beautiful views. It was his 50th birthday. He told me how much he was enjoying himself and he asked me what I was going to want for my 50th birthday which would be coming around in two years. I didn't even hesitate before I answered him. "A horse!" I said simply and to the point. I'd wanted a horse for as long as I could remember and I knew that if I didn't get one soon, I'd never get one. So, from the moment we touched down on US soil, I began my quest. There were two things that I didn't realize at the time, that my horse would actually arrive soon after my 49th birthday and that she would totally change my life. Everyone told me that at my "advancing" age, I surely needed a gaited horse because their smooth gait was much easier on aging joints. I began my search knowing nothing about horses or even what I really wanted and certainly nothing about what I needed in a horse.

I was lucky because I met two great horse ladies who pointed me in the right direction. The first told me that the horse I wanted was a Missouri Fox Trotter and the second lady, Fran Forester, offered to help me find the perfect MFT for me. She told me about a man she knew who knew more about horses and specifically more about MFTs than anyone she'd ever met. The only problem was, he very seldom agreed to sell one of his horses. Then one day, she contacts me and she is very excited. The man, Huston Jenkins, was selling some of his horses and one of them was the dapple gray that I'd been dreaming of. I'd told everyone that I wanted a dapple gray horse and when I found her, I would call her Mouse. Huston's niece had promised to take some photos of the gray horse and email them to me. They arrived in the middle of the night but I had been waiting for them. I printed them and thumbtacked them to the bathroom wall beside the mirror so that they'd be the first thing my husband, Steve, saw when he got up the next morning. I wrote across the photos, "This is the ONE!!" I'd decided that as soon as I saw her but I was even more convinced that it was fate when I saw her papered name, Mouse's Funny Face. My fate was sealed.

That was over five years ago and that beautiful, dapple gray mare has since become my muse, my inspiration, my teacher and my life. I started doing equine photography and art because of her. I've met so many wonderful people and horses because of her. My herd has grown from one horse to five now. The latest was a gift from Mouse two years ago, our sweet, lovable and beautiful Danny (Traveler's Sensational Flyby.) I have a blog dedicated to Danny called Fly By Danny Boy that tells his story.

For several years, I tried to start a new business doing strictly equine photography but I soon discovered that this is the wrong economic climate for starting a new business of any type but especially one that's primary product is a luxury. I've been doing art my entire life so I'm not ready to give it up. In fact, my solution is to diversify. I plan on cleaning out my workshop and studio and starting to do wood sculpture again as well as painting and drawing and hopefully handcrafted jewelry. My old enthusiasm and creative drive have returned in force. All of the mediums that I'm delving into will be diverse in subject as well but I'd be willing to bet the farm on the fact that the majority of art work will be equine in theme.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Second Installment of The Trip

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If I Could Fly