Top Shelf Ink

Google the words “cutting horse capital” and the first eight pages that come up on the search engine revolve around Weatherford or Parker County, Texas. And as the old timers would say, “Where there’s smoke there’s fire.” Translate that to: Where there are horses, there is a plethora of support/servicing industries. Veterinarian Sonny Seale of Garner Equine is the perfect example.

Lured to Parker County by the burgeoning performance-horse industry in 1995, Seale came to the “Cutting Horse Capital of the World” just one year after graduating from Texas A & M. Thirteen years later, he’s on the cutting-edge of equine medicine, employing advanced medical diagnostics and treatments to his patients. [More…]

Water Colors

Original photo uploaded by Karen Mitchell Smith

Fall is the season of change, of transcending normal appearances and showing forth with all the richness of reds and golds and the earthiness of browns. It is a last burst of glory bridging the heat of summer busyness to the season of bareness and quiet, snow-covered rest. It is the time of crunchy leaves under foot and spicy wood-fire scents in the air. Of bringing out the sweaters and jackets and boots and discovering old, comforting treasures like hot chocolate and fuzzy blankets for the first time again. It is long walks on frosty mornings and early evenings by the flickering flame. It is a time of remembering blessings past and of looking toward those yet to come. It is the season that beckons us to hold on to those you love and to those who love you. It is the season that reminds us, change comes to us all.

‘You just passed gate three, looking for gate four!” yells the navigator as the vehicle careens action-movie style — two wheels on the ground, two in the air — around the tight curve. The navigator hangs on precariously, leaning to the high side to balance the rig.

Sounds like a scene from a high-speed chase on the big screen, but it’s not. It’s Competitive Carriage Driving, and it’s the fastest growing equine sport in the world — a sport that requires coordination, driving skill, equine sense, athletic ability and guts.

Sixty-five-year-old Jean Stuard of Burleson should know; she’s been doing it for more than 20 years. [More…]