112 SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
The Bottom Line:
Follow all the blogs on the Sidelines website. Our “Tails & Trails” blog features dogs and horses available for
adoption through different rescues around the country. “In the Irons” is a blog by hunter/jumper trainer Alan Korotkin and offers a
great look at life in the show ring. “An American in Germany” follows Jocelyn Casey’s adventures in Europe. Speaking of adventure,
our “Adventures with Angelea” blog is from HorseGirlTV® star Angelea Kelly Walkup. Plus we have blogs from college kids, eventers,
polo players and hunter riders. If you are interested in writing a blog for Sidelines, email me at editor@sidelinesnews.com. Meanwhile,
keep up with me on my quest for the Perfect Paint.
By Jan Westmark-Allan
In my blog on the Sidelines website I have been chronicling
my horsey life and the fact that the saying “once a horse person,
always a horse person” rings true for me. I grew up in a non-horse
family, and by the time I was three years old I was hooked on
horses. My mom likes to recall that even though I knew how to
walk and talk, I preferred to crawl on all fours around our house
(trotting and cantering, of course) and whinny like a horse. While
my mom thought it was strange – I think it was brilliant! One should
always be proud to be a naturally born horse person.
For four decades I was a horse person – with a barn full of
horses and ponies. My daughter followed suit and became a horse
kid and grew up in the barn. Then I sold my farm in Wellington,
Florida and moved to the mountains of North Carolina and started
a three year horse free experiment. I had kicked the horse habit
and didn’t have to worry about getting kicked. I had extra money,
time on my hands and a hay free wardrobe. I never walked around
with helmet hair, smelly clothes or dirt smeared across my face.
As any horse person out there knows, while it sounds fun in
theory, my life lacked something. I missed having a four-legged
eating machine to spend all of my money on, but more importantly
spend my life with. So I decided it was time to jump back in the
saddle. (Luckily I had saved a saddle.)
If you have been following my blog you will know there is one
catch to my re-entry into the horse world. I want to become the
proud owner, adopter or rescuer of a horse of many colors. I want
a Paint or pinto gelding and together we will Paint the town! My
goal with the Perfect Paint (the nickname I have given this horse
I haven’t met yet) is to enjoy life, hack through the woods, ride in
our local hunter paces (no jumping), groom, feed treats, spoil him
and do anything else the Perfect Paint demands.
My quest for the Perfect Paint got off to a rocky start when I
talked to a man on the phone the other day about a Paint gelding
he had. I asked him if the horse would be good for hacking
through the woods on the Biltmore Estate grounds near where I
live. Somehow I don’t think this Paint is “perfect” for me because
he told me the horse is
great
on trails except that he is scared of
low hanging branches, stumps, leaves, bushes, small trees, large
trees, squirrels, water and rocks. Apparently the horse is fne with
air – yes, he loves air.
Finding the Perfect Paint is a work in progress, just like fnding
the perfect paint for your living room wall. You might want white
paint, but do you prefer “dreamy white,” “cottage white,” “antique
white” or “whimsical white?” I want a Paint of many colors that can
ride through the woods without being scared and can breathe at
the same time. I think we will call that paint, “A breath of fresh air.”
By Dana’s Doodles.
www.danasdoodles.com
The
Perfect
Paint
e
The Bottom Line