Style
NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Number 12, December 2005
Like many rural residents I am a catalog and internet shopper, and like most U.S.
residents at this time of year my mailbox (literal and electronic) is stuffed
with glossy advertisements for things to buy for the holiday season. All year
long I get a kick out of the regular horse catalogs that offer enticing images
of beautifully groomed, mud-free horses wearing impeccably clean tack. These horses,
it seems, are only surpassed by their even more impeccably turned out riders in
white britches and shirts. Obviously these horsewomen (or models playing horsewomen),
do not live with horses like Shadow who can snort and soil a clean t-shirt or
sweatshirt from an amazingly long distance! However, I live in hope that one day,
I will aspire to the level of style that these images portray.
In December, the catalogs change their focus and devote more pages to gifts
for horse and rider, to Christmas tree ornaments, Breyer horses wearing Santa
outfits, and cuddly stuffed ponies. This year I’ve also noticed an increase
in horses as accessories and props for general clothing and lifestyle catalogs.
Companies like Sundance, The Territory Ahead, and topping them all, J. Crew, have
incorporated horses into their tantalizing images. Some of these photographs really
caught my attention this year. If I pause to wonder how people keep themselves
in clean white britches around a horse barn, I am really stumped by how you can
ride a horse in boots with three-inch stiletto heels!
In an item labeled “thoroughbred style,” J. Crew is selling beautifully
made Italian leather and suede boots. To demonstrate their intended use(?) consumers
are given a close-up photo of the boot resting in a stirrup. The rider, I must
note, does not have her heels down, but how could she? Then, to give us the full
effect, the same boots are displayed in their entirety as the model holds a the
reins of her horse, posed in a lovely mud and snow free pasture. I know it sounds
a little Scrooge-like, but I can only hope that the producers of these advertisements
meant the images to be tongue-in-cheek. Didn’t they?
Happy holidays, and please, stay away from the stilettos at least around the barn!
Anna Banks, Editor womentalkhorses.com
editor@womentalkhorses.com
Moon Hill Ranch, Idaho