I grew up on the back of a horse. This is me at about a yr old.
My mom and dad trained horses, and we raised a few along the way. . . 
This is Kellee and I on a BLM horse my dad trained. Dad let us name the horse, and we decided to call this horse star buck because he had a star on his head, and he bucked really hard with my dad!
This is me on the back of a donkey that I trained one summer. . . it's a long story but a pretty funny one. . . I'll have to share that another time. Kellee is standing in front of me on the ground. She was probably about a kindergartner in this picture and I was about a 4th grader. I was so proud of that donkey. 
I am the oldest of 3 girls. My sister, Kellee is 4 years younger. When we were little girls, we did everything together. We even shared a horse and a saddle for years. You would assume that I mean that we took turns, but nope, Kel was behind me holding on to the leather straps everywhere we went. We followed my dad on our 24 year old mare for years while he trained horses. He was our hero. He still is. 
My parents still barrel race competelively. This is my mom running her horse a couple of years ago. I'm so proud of my mom and dad that they are still so young and active! 
Just a shot of my little family a few years ago at Thanksgiving at my parents place.
So you're probably wondering what sparked this particular entry. My mom sent me this video a couple of weeks ago. It was on Ellen today and it got me thinking about it again. This girls is running what is called a reining pattern. In it you use your feet and your hands by way of a headstall and bit to give your horse cues to do lead changes where they change the dominant foot, and you do things like the slide stops and back up, and you go really slow at times and really fast at times. It's really fun to watch, but it's even more fun to do. Anyway, this girl does in bareback with no headstall at all. The first time she does a slide stop, I started crying! It just really got me. This gal is a great little rider and what a great little horse. I grew up on 30 acres, and I'm a suburbian girl these days, but this took me back to the good old days when I spent my time following dad and wore braids in my hair every day and I learned to whistle and loved the smell of the sagebrush. Good times.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Look No Hands!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
OH SHELL, the good old days for sure. Well as a fellow Wyoming girl it is actually the good-ol-days!!! It is so fun to see these pictures again. We were such cute kids. So many fun memories - in fact, do you remember how dad use to pull us on the sleds behind his horse in the winter! WOW, it sucks to grow up! I still wish I was riden double behind you! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
This is adorable Shel. I love seeing the pastlives of others! It's a window into your soul. . . wow that's deep. So cute.
That is so cool. I always thought having horses would be fun.
Hi Shellee,
Just wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting (I'm the alligator purse girl) LOL I just checked out your blog and love your photography! Beautiful work. I liked the story you shared here. I am a horse girl too...Never grew up with them, but always wanted one and when I lived in South Dakota, I finally had a horse of my own. There is something so special about the relationship between a horse and it's owner. Then we had to move to Las Vegas and I became a city girl again. If your ever in Vegas, maybe one day we will meet. We sometimes go to St George to go to Tuhacahn.
These are great pictures. I love the donkey... you seem so proud. My favorite is the one of your dad with the Christmas presents. the family is pretty cute too. Jason looks like a natural.
Post a Comment