Today Lizz shared this hilarious memory - she’s a great writer. You can visualize the scene just by reading her words. Comments in square brackets are mine.
“The Claassen family that lived across the street from Woodburns [a farm where we boarded our horses] managed that farm of milking cows. They were from Holland and were all, or at least some of them, artists by night. Especially Hans, I think. There seemed to be lots of dudes, not so many gals, although the ladies could have been interested in other things.
At that time they were working on how to add light to rocks in a river [on one of their paintings]. Diana had something she wished to convey to Hans, so since we were already mounted she decided we would simply ride over. Which we did. Becky and Fred [Becky was my horse, Lizz owned Fred] had previously been there a gazillion times. When we arrived I just sort of reached for Becky's reins, but Di casually tied them to the push lawn mower. Now if there was a horse on this planet that you could tie to a push lawn mower, Becky was this horse.
Alas, apparently there is not.
Something set her off as Diana, having completed her mission, emerged from the house in conversation with Hans. Becky’s head flew up. She darted this way. She darted that way. She ran around a tree. Fred's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. I hastily backed him out of what seemed to be Becky’s circle of panic and he went back to sleep. Really.
Becky got herself wound up into a western spin, where the butt remains planted and the rest flys around. She had the mower flying horizontally sideways.
It was actually hilarious. Diana and Hans and I mesmerized by the low flying machinery, Becky apparently pleased with herself that could create such a fuss, and Fred snoozing on the sidelines. What a scene that must have seemed to a casual observer.
Saturday night at the farm...”
A memory photo courtesy of Lizz - me on the left front on my horse Drum - Ottawa Valley Hunt.
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