Missy the Horse
by Lindsay MacKenna
My dream of one day owning a horse ranch materialized at age thirty. When my husband David and I moved to Lisbon, Ohio, we bought a two-story house and barn on twenty acres of land with a creek running through it. Here, I could finally realize my dream of having an Arabian horse farm.
I got busy showing and I used Missy in my riding classes. It was fun to compete but being in the ring allowed me to see some of the riding ‘games’ first-hand. You’d think everyone had integrity when it came to riding. Wrong. Some professional trainers who were really assertive would cut you off in front of a judge so your horse lost its gait or changed leads....either of these situations could get you knocked out of a competition. And then there were amateurs who were super competitive and would do anything to make sure they looked good in front of the judge, the rest of the riders be damned. I learned a lot in the ring. That’s where I came up with the inspiration for my villain, Curt Downing, another endurance rider in THE LAST COWBOY.
In my own experience, I decided remaining honest and riding with integrity in the ring was far more important than winning. And here I’d gone into these classes thinking that the best horse would win, haha. Oh, was I ever so wrong!
Photo Caption: This is a photo of Missy and me warming up for the English riding class. I would be putting on my derby hat and my dark brown riding coat and gloves for the actual class when it was called.
