Featured This Month
MULE CROSSING: Riding Side Saddle (Aside)
By Meredith Hodges INTRODUCTION I was born LOVING horses in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1950. I got a pair of chaps and a “bouncing” horse when I was six years old. My Grandmother was always teaching me about Good Posture and Good Manners. She once wanted to take me on a shopping trip to the local mall and requested that I put on one of my frilly dresses. She told me that all the little girls would be wearing them and I flatly refused! You don’t ride horses in frilly dresses! I was a Tom-Boy all the way through! I didn’t want to be a boy, I just wanted to be READY TO RIDE! So, my Grandmother conceded and let me wear my pants! When we got back, she said, “See, I told you all the pretty little girls would be wearing dresses. Now don’t you wish you had worn yours?” “Nope,” I replied and she just shrugged! I still wore my dresses to church! We moved to California in 1958 when I finally got my first horse, Duchess! I was still very much a Tom Boy now...cleaning stalls, doing chores on the ranch and riding my horse. In 1961, I ...