Giddy Up

I have always been intimidated by horses ever since I was introduced to them as a child in Montana. I have had the experiences of riding them, falling off of them and being chased by them on many occasions. Don't get me wrong, I think that horses are one of the the most beautiful and amazing creatures on earth. However, I just prefer to admire them from a distance.

When my daughter was eight years old she loved horses. For her birthday that year we had a Breyer horse-themed party, and for Christmas my husband and I built her a play horse barn complete with horse stalls and mini bales of hay. I was still gluing miniature cedar roof shingles on the barn on Christmas Eve. She took riding lessons and spent most of that summer at the horse barn with our twelve-year-old friend Darcie and Darcie's horse Blitz. They had the best summer, and I was thrilled that all I had to do was drive them to and from the horse barn. We were happy that this phase of her life passed without having to get a real horse and build a real barn. I think she decided that cleaning horse stalls was really not her thing!

I made this basket using natural brown and dyed dark turquoise Long Leaf pine needles, dark brown artificial sinew, tiger's eye beads and a horse pottery basket base. Enjoy!