Read the Story to Get to "The Prize"

That's just me as a kid on someone else's horse. I'll tell you the prize for the Name-my-puppy Contest but first you have to read the story that goes with the picture (even though I've alluded to it on another post ; see "All the Horses I've Loved").

I was 3 when I saw my first horse. My life changed that day and my own horse was all I wanted for the next 13 years.

You see, my mom had a serious injury on a horse, before she met my dad, that almost ended in her having one of her legs amputated. She was in bed a whole year (there when my dad decided to come courting). Plus my folks lived in town and they always said there was nowhere to put  a horse.

I was stubborn (not a bit now though, ha, ha) and every time I was asked what I wanted for Christmas or my birthday (for 13 years) I always said only one thing: a horse.  I was told it was out of the question (but it wasn't, not to me) I started hoarding money to buy my own horse starting with $5 in pennies. It was a long process but the day before my 16th birthday I conned my folks into going out to this place to look at a horse. They were stunned when I pulled the money out of my pocket to buy it and told them I had enough to pay for room and board for quite a while, and I had made arrangements for a place out of town for it to stay. I even asked the folks I bought the horse from to haul it for me. That day I made my 13 year old dream came true.

Up till that day all I could do was dream and draw. Pictures were my only way of having a horse. In all those years I developed a little drawing skill and I eventually studied Visual Art at a University for 4 years. (The old something-good-from-something-bad thing and. . .  hold on to your horses! I'm getting to like cooking too.)

So, after all that, to get to the prize: whoever wins the contest can email me a photo of your horse or dog or even a cow (or bull, Kit) and I'll draw it and send you the original (unframed) via the mail.

Following are some drawings that I have done just to give you an idea of what it might look like. (These were water damaged in storage so you have to overlook that)

 ( AAAH! I can't get this one the right way around)

Now that I look at these, it's kind of obvious, I've always been a little fascinated with bulls. Did you see how the clown in the barrel facing the bull looks way too scared? That's just me, projecting my own fear onto his face. And now that I look at it again, the other clown has kind of a scary looking face.

"Interesting, very interesting . . . " the old cowgirl thinks to herself.