From time to time, when I was growing up, my mother would relate an anecdote about something that happened on the day I was born.  My father had brought a beautiful bouquet to my mother’s room in the hospital, and when one of the nurses saw it, she exclaimed, “Mrs. Grumman, those flowers are so beautiful, they almost look artificial!”

Just like fake tails.  Which for show hunters are now de rigeur.  Bring me my smelling salts, please…and take me back to a time when there was taste.

One of our most accomplished hunter trainers has been quoted as saying,  “When a horse walks in and doesn’t have the right tack on, is wearing a saddle pad that’s inappropriate, doesn’t have a fake tail, is not beautifully braided, or isn’t wearing well-oiled tack, it doesn’t look well turned-out.”

Hey, wait a minute, I say.  Let’s talk about beautifully braided.  What happened to a mud knot?  It used to be that, years ago, or maybe eons ago to the juniors, horses without much of a tail would come into the hunter ring in a mud knot, or as they refer to it across the ocean, a mud tail.  In my book, that’s part of the “beautifully braided” standards you refer to, and which we aspire to, in the hunters.  Or it should be.  It once was, not all that long ago.

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The show house, that is.

I’m a follower of Jennifer Boles’ marvelous blog, The Peak of Chic, Musings on Stylish Living.  This despite the fact that I proudly display the sign “Horsework before Housework” in the Victorian cottage that’s part of my farm.

As a counterpoint to my horse habit, back in the ’90s, I restored period houses professionally.  I share Jennifer’s love of the English Country House and her love of charm, that attribute so ill-adapted to the Age of Vulgarity in which we live.

But I must put my tear-kissed, embroidered handkerchief away and get back to the topic at hand:  horses!

There they were, the other day, on Jennifer’s blog!  She kindly agreed to let me share them with you.  It seems horses are a chic theme in the Maison de Luxe show house that just opened in Beverly Hills.  Here are some snapshots, courtesy of Jennifer:

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When it comes to sales videos, here’s what I’d like to see and never do:

Conformation.  Front, back, and both sides.  I want to see the feet from the front, from the side, underneath, and I want to see the shoes if there are any.

I want to see the horse being led in hand, naked except for a halter, walking directly towards the camera and away from the camera.  I’m greedy, so I want to see the walk from the side too. Both sides, in fact.  I want to see the horse being turned in hand.

Show me how the horse is for a quick grooming.

Show me how the horse behaves while tacking up.  I want to see the bit that’s going into the horse’s mouth.  

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In case you didn’t recognize the name, that’s Don Quixote’s horse.  Certainly, the kind of horse we refer to as a “saint.”

I can only imagine that Don Quixote, the dreamer, would be feeding him more if he lived in our time.

Nevertheless, I identify with Don Quixote.  I am a dreamer too.  And most of my dreams revolve around horses.  Many of my dreams have not come true, but they have taught me lessons about patience and forgiveness and acceptance.  Lessons that help me in my work with horses, every day.

My parents had this Salvador Dali print hanging in their dining room

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