All the Pretty Horses (and Donkeys and Mules)

Every Christmas, in the horse department of the animal sanctuary where I work, we draw names for gifts. We have a $10 limit and we always have a really fun gift exchange and a super-yummy pot luck lunch.

This year I drew Jackie's name, which was great because I just LOVE Jackie. (Actually, I really love all my co-workers, but I also really LOVE Jackie! We all do. But I digress...)

I wondered for a couple of weeks what in the world to get her, and then it hit me one day while I was in the shower - that's where I do all my best thinking.

I'd take pictures of her equine family and make her a little album!

Yay, the idea's the hardest part. So I recruited our mutual friend, Linda to help me and we snuck to Jackie's house on a day she was working and took pictures of her crew of cuties.

Here are a few of the pictures we ended up with:

Lily~



Dudley ~



Bertram ~

Norman (and Berts again)


Bubba ~
And the belle of the ball, Miss Berry ~



Berry is a little welsh pony who's as friendly as she is pretty. We'd brought along a mirror to give the horses something to perk their ears up at - lots of horses are a little bit afraid of mirror and it makes them bug out their eyes and look pretty for the camera. But Miss Berry wasn't afraid, she was fascinated! Engrossed! Intrigued! In love!

"I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
And I pity
Any girl who isn't me tonight.

I feel charming,
Oh, so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel!
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real.

See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!"

(name that movie!)

Miss Berry couldn't take her eyes (or nose) off that gorgeous, breathtaking horse in the mirror. She flirted with that horse for a long time - and that lovely mirror horse flirted right back. It was just toooooo funny. I've never seen anything like it.


So it was fun to give Jackie her little album, and she seemed to really like it. I wanted to post these pictures at Christmas time, but in the off chance that Jackie might see them before the party, I didn't. And then I forgot about them. But I've been needing another horsie post, so I was glad to run across these tonight.

You gotta love horses - and donkeys and mules, of course. They're a fun change of photography pace for me.