Arden used to be one of those girls who loves horses. Her obsession started around age three and it began to wane a couple of years ago. In fact, I can't even believe I just summed that up in two sentences. Her every waking moment was consumed by drawing, reading about, playing with, dressing up, writing about, watching, and dreaming about horses for seven solid years. And now her moments are just not about that. This past fall, when I was ordering new lunchboxes for the kids, I knew we had reached a new dawn when instead of picking out the one with horses, she chose the one that said 'Girl Power.'
She still treasures her Breyer models, though. They have a very special place on a very special bookshelf and she wouldn't dream of giving any of them away. Some have names like Storm-Shy and Banjo and some have chipped ears and broken hooves but each one is artfully arranged and loved unconditionally. Now, if you have model horse lovers in your house, you've probably heard of the Breyer horse magazine, Just About Horses. It's all about how model horses are made and the stories (and artists) behind them but Arden's favorite part of the magazine is the bi-monthly photo competition. Participants must set up their models in a hyper-realistic manner (the more realistic the better) according to a specific theme. The winner is usually awarded a rare, collector model and has her winning photo printed in the magazine.
This month's theme was "Trail Ride." Arden picked out the characters and decided on what kind of scene she wanted and Michael helped her make the display board. They spray mounted dirt and twigs and dried spices onto a large piece of cardboard then added some moss from the yard. Arden braided a little bridle for the horse and made a fetching red collar for one of the dogs. They carried the whole thing over to the park and took this shot:
I love it. And I love that a tiny bit of horse obsession is alive and well around here. I, for one, am not ready to admit that it's finally over.
