Lauren headed down our driveway as she made her way over to Nancy’s house. We had determined Nancy had a better location for the photo shoot then we did.
Lauren still dressed in her whites from the horse show classic she did earlier in the day with Snowboy, Kendyll and Jordyn
Ally is a good planner. In fact, we all are. But because Ally has the two kids (at least in the Texas space) her life spins off its axis a little more dramatically (and a little more frequently) than Lauren’s or mine.
I swear Lauren has been at a horse show for the last 100 years. I am very proud of the progress she and Ky have made as they have scampered up through the divisions. But I also often feel like the wife whose husband is off traveling to the grand destinations while the wife’s is left at home to cook, clean, mow, and care for the animals. And the days Lauren shows here in town just complicate things further as I desperately want to be watching her and the rest of the TKO team, but need to be doing my chores, too.
Anyway, what this is all leading up to is that Ally planned for her photographer and friend, Elvia, to come take some pictures of the girls with spring in the air. Ally and I had talked about using Snowboy as we had used big Bruno for pictures back in 2014.
Jordyn was about six years old and Kendall had just turned two years old. These pictures ended up being our memories of the last days of Bruno’s life. Our wonderful, brave, strong, stoic, giant thoroughbred would die just days after these pictures were taken.
And while I was aware of that yesterday, knowing that Snowboy had not been in the best health, never did it stop me from wanting him to be part of the girl’s pictures. And as things sometimes happen he completely brought his best gameface for his photo shoot.
Likewise, it didn’t take long for Kendyll and Jordyn to be posing smiling and genuinely enjoying their afternoon.
And what we’re left with after our Sunday at Nancy’s house (she graciously allowed us on her property to take the Snowboy pictures) is a print, a simple snapshot of the moment in time. A moment that would be too quickly replaced by little girls were not so innocent and not so easy to giggle at silly things. Right now, they are happier on the back of the horse than anywhere else.
Big, big thank you to Elvia for these tremendous pictures. And also to my special, wonderful daughter Ally who just does so much for so many of us so often. Thank you Ally for the special day in the sun.
As always, thank you for riding along.
Exechorseluver 