Ruff

In the past few months through Facebook I have reconnected with friends I had while a member of an organization called Westernaires. All of my best childhood memories were spent on the back of a horse. Catching up with these friends has brought me back to a place in my life that I both loved and hated. Because of this over the next couple of days I will be taking a little trip down memory lane and remembering my favorite horses.

All of my horses were hand me downs passed down through my cousins John and Bill. Ruff should have been my first horse, but was my second. I started out with Oakie and am not sure of the reason I switched to Ruff...there was a bit of horse swapping going on. Ruff was just about the sweetest creature on four legs. She was a mix or Quarter Horse and I think Icelandic Pony. At roughly 14 hands she was perfect for me at 10 years old. In the picture above she was about 31. It was my first horse show and her last...and as you can see she left the scene a winner. She got to spend the next few years kicking around the pasture. I miss that sweet girl I learned so much from her.

I have to mention that the outfit I am wearing was hand fringed by my mother. I am not saying that she bought some fringe and sewed it on...I am saying that she spent several hours a night after work over the course of weeks stringing each piece a fringe through a thin strip of lace. Now that is love!