Unrelated real horse stuff

As some of you may know (and some of you have met him!) I have a white appy gelding named "Mork". Mork was my very first show horse as a child, the first horse that was my own, and my greatest teacher. When I first saw him, I immediately was struck by his pure white coat; and connected with him immediately. I loved him from the moment I saw him.

He was, however, no pushover; and one of the most important things he taught me was humility-- he could be so stubborn sometimes!! He was my friend and mentor through my childhood, and I accomplished things on him that I never thought possible. Above is a photo of him in his prime (I think here he is around 15). He was just striking when he was polished up; and this is how I will always remember him.

Mork now is 31 years old and living at my parents in retirement. He is a bit senile, as old men tend to get, and spends his days standing in the sun or wandering about the pasture very slowly. I know my time with him is limited, and I know that it will be devestating when it comes to an end. I just recently finished a portrait model of him, who actually is the white face up in my header. It was important for me to get him finished, and to have him be front and center.

The reason I bring it all up is that just recently I requested a FarmTek cataloge, a farm supplies company that sells things like mats, building supplies, general farm stuff. Greg and I have been talking about the possibility of building a barn when the time is right; and so I wanted to start leafing through material to see what was out there. As I went through the cataloge, a familiar face jumped out at me (click image to blow it up):

I had forgotten all about this photoshoot, since I was so little when it happened-- 10 or 12, maybe? It was right after we had finished restoring my parent's barn (it used to be a tobacco shed, but was transformed into stables)-- FarmTek approached us about using the barn and the white horse (Mork) to show off their interlocking mats. In return we got a set of mats for that stall, which are still there today. This was probably at least 12-15 years ago.

It really made me smile to see Mork in the cataloge... in all his former glory, preserved for posterity for all to see. :-)