Author:
The Mage
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Date Posted: 02:07:05 06/28/13 Fri
>>A work friend of my wife has been bugging us for a
>>couple of years to go take in one of her daughter's
>>4-H horse shows. As the girl is about to get aged out
>>of 4-H we knew it would have to be this summer or not
>>at all, but both my wife and I have been dragging our
>>feet a little. But, last weekend we decided we'd
>>better show up for a couple hours. We wound up sitting
>>there watching and taking a few photos for five hours,
>>and it was a lot more interesting than we thought it
>>would be.
>>
>>See, when I was a kid my mother had a bad allergy to
>>horses. While I knew kids that had them I could never
>>spend any time with them, much though I wanted to. So,
>>I never got a chance to learn much about horses, which
>>was a shame, and something I've never been able to
>>make up. I've been able to ride a very little bit over
>>the years, a dozen times at the most and then long,
>>long ago, but would have liked to do more.
>>
>>That much said, while I don't know much about horses,
>>I can tell rough from smooth, confident from
>>tentative. And, there was considerable esthetic
>>pleasure in just looking at the horses and watching
>>the kids, even though I knew none of them except for
>>Katie, the daughter of my wife's work friend.
>>
>>I don't normally like to post multiple photos of an
>>event on PhotoPost, but I'm going to this week. The
>>first photo, the one up tonight, is of one of the
>>horses that impressed me the most. I seem to recall
>>someone telling me the horse's name was Reggie, but I
>>don't remember the name of the rider. The thing that
>>made it interesting is that Reggie is a Percheron, a
>>draft horse, the kind of horse you'd expect to see
>>dragging a plow in Amish country, a genetic cousin to
>>the Budweiser Clydesdales. Now, a Percheron is not
>>what you normally think of as a show horse -- it's not
>>fast and it's not agile. But Reggie just exudes power,
>>which is a beauty all its own, and the horse has an
>>unexplainable grace as a result. Reggie and his young
>>rider make a great pair. Both rider and horse appear
>>to be very well trained, and showed it by taking a
>>number of trophies and ribbons, even in classes where
>>speed and agility are at a premium. Watching the two
>>of them barrel racing was an awesome sight!
>>
>>In one of the classes -- don't ask me which one -- I
>>was told the horses were graded by which horse the
>>judges would most like to ride. I can't speak for the
>>judges, but if I was one of them Reggie would have
>>been my choice!
>>
>>Friday's PhotoPost will be of another horse that
>>impressed me a lot. I don't have a name for the rider
>>or the horse, but I was told it was an Arabian. It
>>took me a while to realize that he reminded me of a
>>merry-go-round pony. The horse just looked like he was
>>built for style and class; it had an attitude that
>>said it knew it was pretty and was proud of it -- and
>>wanted to show off what it was made of. He was fast
>>and agile, and it was a joy to watch him give a
>>spirited ride, head and tail held high, his mane
>>flashing, clearly enjoying himself and making his
>>rider enjoy the ride. The photo is not the best I've
>>ever taken but is the best I got of this horse at the
>>show, and it still shows some of the horse's spirit,
>>in spite of a proportionately bigger rider than Reggie
>>had to deal with.
>>
>>The final photo -- next Monday's -- will be of our
>>host's daughter Katie and her horse, Vidalia. Katie is
>>a big girl, not much shorter than I am, but Vidalia is
>>a big horse. Vidalia is very well trained, if not the
>>fastest horse on the lot -- but Katie and Vidalia
>>clearly understand each other. They managed a couple
>>of trophies and several ribbons.
>>
>>All in all it was a great afternoon when I wasn't
>>expecting much of anything. No promises, but there
>>might be a 4-H horse show in a Spearfish Lake Tales
>>story someday.
>>
>>-- Wes
>
>I wouldn't mind a story about horses in Spearfish
>Lake. There are three mentions about horses in your
>older stories so far. In The Next Generation, Judy
>uses her amazing strength with the help of a gentle,
>old horse named Candybar to save the life of her
>future father-in-law. Second, Mark tells Mike McMahon
>to keep his dogs in his barn during hunting season
>since Jackie had her horse shot by some unknown hunter
>who mistook it for a deer. Third, Candace teases her
>husband by telling him that she wants to get a horse
>if they should move out in the country so she can ride
>like she did when she was a girl in Arvada Center.
I too would like to see a story that includes horses. As I was reading the last comment I realized why I liked Dick Francis' work so much, it was the horses.
At any rate, I enjoy your work Wes. Thanks for the many pleasant hours of reading.
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