My Favorite Things

My very most favorite animal on the planet is a horse. They are the most splendid of animals, and because I've always wanted one and never owned one, I consider myself a 'cowgirl without portfolio.' I like the smell of horses, the sounds they make, the smell of a tack room, the beauty of their shiny coats, the sounds of the birds in a barn and the whinnying of a horse who wants out to play. One of my favorite sounds is the sound of a horse walking on cement...that clippety clop sound makes me stop in my tracks and smile.

I like horses because they're so big and smart and because when you show them how to play a game...they love to play the game, like cutting cattle out of a herd or chasing down a steer so the rider can slip off the saddle to wrestle it to the ground. They have hearts that will not quit...like Seabiscuit and all the thoroughbreds who run because their riders ask them to...until they physically give out.

Horses love people who love horses. They don't suffer fools and they won't cooperate with people who don't like them or know how to 'speak' to them. For the ones who can 'speak' to them, they have a bond...a love that transcends many other kinds of love.

I've ridden western, English and bareback. I've had experiences with Arabians, cutting horses, Italian endurance horses from Maremma, polo ponies and old nags. I still want a horse. I'll always want a horse. And, the cowboys who ride the horses aren't bad either!
kk

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Can you believe how much KK loves horses? And I've probably been around them much more than she has because of all the western movies I worked on. Horses everywhere...and cowboys. I can take horses or leave them. I like to look in their big, ole eyes as I stroke them under their chins. On the set of 'Wyatt Earp' I was petting one of the horses on its face like most people do and Rusty, the head wrangler, came over and covered my face with the palm of his hand. He said, 'Do you like that? Cause horses don't like it either unless they really know you well.' I learned a lot about horses on movie sets and my favorite thing is when a stagecoach with a six-up comes barrelling down the street. It's pretty magnificent. The sound of the harnesses clanking and the hooves and the coach creaking, well...you had to be there.

I don't love horses though. I hate the smell of their urine. It smells like apple juice and I can't drink apple juice because of years of horses taking a piss right next to me. I don't like the way they smell and they have bad breath. I have a toe that is bent from being stepped on when I was a little kid at summer camp. Horse snot is really yucky when they sneeze and fling it on you.

SalGal