Em's Horsetales

Mention horses to me and you will notice a gleam in my eyes. A peculiar thing begins to happen within me. I start remembering all those horses from my childhood and from the present day as well. The pictures begin somewhere deep in my consciousness and they just shine from somewhere in the core of my "being".

Yes, you're thinking: "One of those 'horse-crazy girls', all grown up." You are exactly right. It goes back a long way with me. I found out in later years that my grandfather had been a horse-trader and blacksmith in Nashville at the site where the old Hippodrome Roller Rink was. (I roller skated there for many years before it became a Holiday Inn) As far as I knew, that was the only person in my family who had any connection with horses. Everybody seemed to hate horses and the life they once lived in rural areas. They had made it to city life and, by golly, they didn't need any reminders of just how tough it was to live on a farm.

My Uncle Bob had a little restaurant just outside the Nashville Fairgrounds, "The Horseman's Inn". The walls of this place were covered with pictures of horses. He also had every Budweiser display that was ever made! *LOL* As I began to ask about all the pictures, I found out that the man driving the carts and riding the beautiful American Saddlebred Horses was my Uncle Bob. A real eye-opener for me! He was a top-notch horse trainer in Chicago back in the days of the High-Society horse shows of the 1930s. The most famous of his horses in later years, was"The Lemon Drop Kid", a fine harness horse that became a world champion. This is not my Uncle in the picture featured here. You can find pictures of that horse at the American Saddle Horse Museum,located on the grounds ofThe Kentucky Horse Parkin Lexington, KY, USA. To learn more about the breed, go toThe American Saddlebred Horse. As years went by, I began to beg to go to horse shows and, as usual for all horse-crazy girls, requested a horse from Santa Claus. None was forthcoming, so I satisfied my craziness by owning as many horse figurines and farm sets as the law would allow (the "law" in this case being my beleagured parents *g*).

The older I got, the more I began to think up ways to be around these wonderful creatures. I went to a place called Youth Incorporated on Saturdays and rode as often as I could. Percy Warner Park, in Nashville also had a stable and I begged and pleaded for chances to ride or just to visit the horses there. There were many Horse Shows in Nashville back then (still are) and Pony Club Shows as well. I soon became a familiar sight at ringside, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the horseshow arenas. You know us horse-crazies, don't ya? Well, since I discovered a talent for art way back in second grade, I started drawing them. As you can see, by then, I had also discovered Walter Farley's books...The Black Stallion series. I read and read and re-read those adventures. I drew that horse over and over again. I also knew at that point in my life that I had to see an Arabian Horse! Not only did I have to SEE one...I had to OWN one! The first Arabian horses that I saw were at local horse shows. They all seemed to be very small to me. I was comparing apples to oranges at that time...most of the horses I had seen were Saddlebreds, Tennessee Walking Horses andThoroughbreds...all pretty large breeds by comparision. But there was a light in the Arab's eyes that pretty well matched that light in my own eyes. My art work improved then too. As a teenager, I painted this Arab in a high school art class. It became a gift to my favorite relative, Uncle "Doc", and returned to me upon his death.

Years went by and I never did get that horse I always longed for. I married a Navy man and off we went for a 23 year long visit to the East Coast of the United States. Not too many opportunities to have a horse if you are busy pulling up stakes and moving to the next duty station every two years or so. Oh, that's not to say that the love of horses went away. Dear me, no! I continued to visit horse farms and to go to the horse shows and even was able to add some race tracks to my list of horse-related activity. I'll never forget Green Mountain Park, a Harness race track in Vermont back in 1966. We spent so long a time talking to a man who was exercising his Standardbred race horse that he offered to let us drive the horse around the track! (still kicking ourselves for not taking him up on his offer *lol*) I kept drawing horses and even drew a race horse's portrait for a gentleman we met while living in the Washington, DC area. Sure wish I had kept a photo of that drawing, cause I earned a whopping $50 with it.

Not too long after this, in 1968, I finally got a look at what the Arabian horse had become in the United States. We were living in Virginia at the time and decided to visit Charlottesville, VA and while there, Lewisfield Farm. To say I was in horse heaven would have been an understatement. The farm was magnificent with eagles on the gateposts and the lovely rolling hills of Virginia. Here, we saw some of the best Crabbet Bred Arabians in the US at the time. Mr Lewis treated us as honored guests on his farm, even though we were driving a 1962 Corvair and wearing old jeans and sure didn't look like horse buyers! He asked his grooms to bring out all of the show horses and took us on a guided tour of the mare pastures to see the new foal crop from that year. He gave us a brochure and told us to make ourselves comfortable and to help ourselves to some magazines in the office overlooking the indoor arena. I learned that Arabians can be big as well as beautiful and that Arabian owners love their horses and want to share this love with others as well. Sadly, Lewisfield is no more, but other breeders have continued what he started and are trying to breed for the Lewisfield look by breeding descendants of the great horses that came from his program.

Years go by, as they are wont to do *g*, and we now find ourselves retired and back home Nashville in 1985, taking care of aging parents and spending some weekends visiting with friends in the "country". To tell the story of how I came about having that wonderful horse I always wanted, I think I had better continue this story on another page.