Member - Brenda
horseless years came first of course.  I was born the middle
child of a typical middle class family.  You know...the stay at child
of a typical middle class family.  You know...the stay at home
mom, the successful, hard working father, one older brother and
one younger sister, and one family dog.  Not that there was
anything actually wrong with my family, it's just they saw a golf
course as a place to go tee off, and I saw a golf course as a
wonderful green, open area to imagine galloping blissfully
across on a prancing white Arabian mare, or a thundering black
thoroughbred stallion.  
thundering black thoroughbred stallion.  


As luck would have it, I was hopelessly in love with an animal
they never gave a minute’s thought to. To make matters worse,

I contented myself with Breyer models, Farley books, and every horse poster I could lay my hands on.  At long last,
my dad came home from work offering a small miracle in the form of a golfing buddy named Pinky Forrester.  He
had three living breathing equines, 40 acres, and a generous heart.   He also had the patience of a saint.  For the
next three years I would be in horse heaven, beginning with a small Welsh-cross pony, moving on to his black
racking gelding, and finally earning enough trust to warrant riding and showing his Palomino foxtrotter gelding on
the local Northwest Arkansas circuit.

For you to truly understand what horses meant to me, I suppose I'd better drudge up some rather unpleasant
memories as well.  Every school, every class has at least one child that is shunned by the rest, picked on, teased
mercilessly.  That dubious honor fell to me.  Looking back, I know a lot of it was surely my fault..I was a
day-dreamer, and a tomboy, and I couldn't care less about the stuff the other girls were always giggling about and
fussing over.  I would much rather be catching tadpoles and crawdads in the creek, and my hair...well, my hair was
attached to my head and that's about all a person could say for it.  I didn't purposely try to have it always in such a
mess, I simply never thought to hardly run a comb through it.  I liked the company of my dog just fine, and if I was
missing out on anything, I certainly didn't know it.  At least not until Monday would roll around again, and I would be
trapped in school again.  To make matters worse, I was a total klutz.  There was not a graceful bone in my body,
and I was always chosen last for any sport that I was forced to play.

But, an amazing thing happened with a horse under me..I no longer felt too tall, too awkward, or too klutzy.  
Instead I was instantly transformed into someone with grace and style, someone to be envied and admired.  I was
RIDING!  Of course...I didn't think of it in so many words as a kid, I just knew that I was perfectly, utterly happy and
floating on clouds when I was doing anything with those horses.

I moved to Indiana when I was 15, and didn't think much of horses for a while.  High school, dating, working, and
college occupied my time.  I got married, and we bought a fixer-upper house.  But on our honeymoon, I got to ride
again, and I got to visit with Pinky once more. My folks had given us some money to spend on fixing up the house,
or whatever we needed....well.....I felt what we needed was a HORSE! We found the first one by a fluke, at an
auction that we'd been warned to be sure NOT to buy from.  And what other breed, after Pinky's horses, but a
foxtrotter?  So what that we didn't buy the cabinets for the house, and had to continue washing dishes in the
bathtub for the next 8 months?  Merely a small inconvenience. Nothing to be alarmed by. We had a horse.  A
beautiful grey foxtrotter mare. Life was good.

The bad thing about having one horse for two people is obvious.  But, we really didn't have money for another one.
 The answer to that seemed equally obvious.  We had a nice registered mare, and stud fees were cheap then.  We
didn't count on the stud owner having 200 head of young stock running around, and being willing to take payments
on one.  And here I thought we would need MONEY to buy.....Now we had two horses, with one on the way!  I found
the IFTA around 1992, at the HHF,  and have been a member ever since.  I'm getting a bit long winded in this little
story, and I'll try to wrap this up.  Suffice it to say that life happened:  divorce, new relationships, breakups, family
deaths, the usual stuff.  I boarded my horses for nine long years, til I bought a 5-acre patch of ground with two
barns for them and a beat up trailer for me.  Discovered that a body can keep four horses for the price of boarding
two with 5 acres.  Upgraded to a real house and 10 acres, and 4 has somehow turned into 10 at last count.  
Discovered that the math doesn't work out quite the same with 10+ horses... the beasts get pretty durn expensive!  
Also discovered that in spite of the workload and expense that I wouldn't trade this life for anything.  And, when I
met Dave, who shares my interest and love for the whole thing, I discovered that it's even more enjoyable sharing
the ups and downs.
I could write a book, possibly two volumes, on the good times and bad.  I've shared some wonderful experiences
and some difficult times with many of the good people in this club.  I'm thankful I was invited along for the ride
some 15 years ago by the Useltons and Stan Curtis at the horse fair, and am looking forward to continuing the
journey for many years to come.