There is a thing in the horse world.  It goes by the highly technical term of “Matchy Matchy”.  In almost every event, in ways subtle and bold, your clothes and tack must match.  In barrel racing, you might have bright painted sunflowers on your leather breast collar and bridle, but you can bet that the colors will also be picked up in the saddle blanket and shirt, and maybe even on the horse’s protective leg wraps.    In a Western rail class, the silver conchos might be heart shaped, and match the bridle conchos, while the saddle blanket, hat, clothes, and boots will be color coordinated and match exactly.  You will see “matchy matchy” in some English events, too.  Eventers riding a cross-country jump course especially will be bright and matchy, maybe in a burnt orange shirt and matching English pad.  Even the dressage world, previously a world of white saddle pads, black tack, and white shirts, is allowing more subdued colors and a bit of sparkly bling on the bridle browband, and maybe even the back of the saddle cantle.  Just a bit. 

I actually love to ride with workmanlike gear.  I love saddles with more leather than silver.  I am fine with conservative black and white in a dressage class (especially since I rarely show dressage).  But for trail riding, I am not so much “matchy matchy” as “contrasty contrasty”.  I don’t mean just wearing hunter orange in hunting season.  I mean wearing purple breeches with a bright blue cowboy shirt.  I am fond of mixing an English saddle with a Western bridle.  Those of us in the know, call this “Wenglish”.   I like a bright orange and purple saddle pad mixed with a black and red tie-died shirt and a maroon riding helmet.   If I could find bright tie-died half-chaps, I would wear them over my boots.  In the meantime, I might wear knitted leg warmers over my boots, or in the summer heat I might wear bright knee socks pulled over the outside of my breeches. In a contrasting color, of course.  My photographer friends love it because I stand out in the scenery.  My Western friends laugh.  I think they are laughing with me, not at me, but I’m not really sure.  Anyhow, it’s fun, it’s unique, and its me.   It’s good to shake up the horse world a bit (even if it’s just with an English bit on a Western bridle).  Ride on!

(Photo credit Sue Wilson. Only a slight exaggeration over my normal trail riding gear!)

On Father’s Day weekend I think of my dad.  He died long ago now.  I think of him when I’m on a boat, near an ocean, and when I’m writing.  Writing runs in the family.  Following is a poem Dad wrote about Drayton Harbor, the bay by our hometown. Below that is a poem I wrote about Drayton Harbor.  Great minds think alike!

Drayton Harbor (By Jim Eames)

Spring tides haul back wide
Eelgrass sticks with herring row
First gulls hatch down chicks
Clam diggers shovel squirts

Baked mud warms the evening flood
Milk-oysters sport new 
Beached eelgrass ranks fecund
Swimmers mince barnacled feet

The tide floods green and rich 
Cutthroats flash at candlefish
Salmon peak summer fat
Sein boats bulldoze blunt waves home

The southeaster lashes chop
Water washes shoreward down
Seabirds flock in rest
Muffled dragger plod with lights

The mud lies brown and dank
Mother-mud that’s borne us all

*


Drayton Harbor at Low Tide (By Michelle Eames)


Ocean flows out—
The bay exhales   
Dakota creek wanders 
through naked tide flats.   
Sea stars and oysters hang tight 
To a few glacier-dropped boulders. 
Tide flats show scars 
Of old sawmill pilings, 
Rusty chains, fish nets and floats: 
History.  

Sand and clay merge 
Into a dark sucking goo,  
Holes gurgle as I walk past, 
Bubbling up from anemones, 
Ghost shrimps, tube worms, clams.
It’s alive, scent of salt and decay.   
Mud squishes up like tar
Claiming my oldest shoes,  
I feel a layer of shells 
Under the surface.  

Sea gulls and sandpipers 
Run into the distance—
The secret to walking on tide flats 
Is to always keep moving.       

*

Both take years to learn, and longer to master.
A little natural talent helps, but regular practice is a must.
A flexible horse with a good mind works for dressage,
A flexible mind with nimble fingers works for writing.
Soft hands, balanced seat, and subtle aids release the horse to dance.
Subtle thoughts, time to write, and creative fingers release the words to soar.

Photo credit Sue Wilson