For Love of a Gray Horse: First Week With the New Kids

Sunday, May 3, 2009

First Week With the New Kids

Fluid Motion

Longing in Their Hearts

The new "boys" are beginning to settle in here in Tennessee after a week on our farm. Brandy, our old Appy mare, seemed to fall in love with Mouse's baby, Django, immediately. She's never screamed at him or bitten or done anything harsh. She will nuzzle and groom him any time that he'll stand still for it and even doesn't mind when he slips into her feed bucket. Not quite the same relationship that she has with our other boy, Rowdy(named so for two reasons: he is rowdier on the ground than his calm under saddle self would indicate, lol...and Rowdy Yates aka Clint Eastwood, of the old Rawhide TV series, was my first crush as a tiny little girl. Which indicates my age as well as Mr. Eastwoods, lol!) Brandy put Rowdy into his place from the first moment they met and I watched the old girl plant a well placed hoof on Rowdy's rump when he attempted to share her food. He usually keeps a wary eye on her and gives her wide berth. This morning he was standing at the fence curiously watching Steve work at building a dam to stop the run off and gullies that we're getting from all of this rain. When Brandy came down to the fence, Rowdy moved away but evidently not far enough away for Brandy. She actually started backing up quickly in his direction and Rowdy decided to hide behind Django. Do you think he's smart enough to know that she wouldn't kick Django? I don't know if he realized that or not but it did stop her onslaught on him.

I have yet to get a really good photo of either new horse. It seems as if it has been raining and gloomy almost nonstop since our return. So, the two photos I'll include with this post are both of my sweet Mouse, whom I'm missing more than I even thought was possible. These are both shots that I took at Huston's farm. One shows her staring longingly out at the pasture where all of the mares stay. I called the photo, Longing in Their Hearts, after the Bonnie Raitt song. Huston says that she still stands there every day and whinies softly but he doesn't want to let her out with the other mares yet for fear she'll be hurt. The other photo was also taken on Huston's farm the morning after we arrived and it is of Mouse being Mouse, lol. She really showed off for us the night before as well, prancing about and running and kicking, but it was too dark for me to get a good shot of that show.

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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.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

First Week With the New Kids

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If I Could Fly