Mississippi Red - Summer 2009 Issue of Horses in Art Magazine

Mississippi Red

by Deanna L. Kraft

Apposition – Watercolor, 10 x 14, by Deanna Kraft.
She was far too much for 10-year-old to handle. You couldn’t have told me that though – or at least you could have tried, but I wouldn’t have listened. Mississippi Red was a little red Arabian-cross mare belonging to a friend of our family. A horse was all I ever wanted, and this horse in particular, after riding her a few times. But alas, she belonged to someone else and was not for sale as far as I knew.

So it was with nine-year-old skepticism that I listened to the description of the horse my parents had bought for my tenth birthday. In the car on the way to the barn my dad proudly described the old, black, gentle, non-Arabian former plow horse named “Bob” that was awaiting my arrival. I made up my mind that I would love Bob no matter how un-Missy-like he was, and fidgeted impatiently the rest of the trip. From the car I spied Missy’s owner in the hallway of the barn. Dad explained that she was just there to help Mom with Bob. I believed him. Until I walked into the barn and Missy stuck her head out of a stall, working on a mouthful of hay. Bob had, of course, been a diversion, and he was forgotten as quickly as he was conjured.

The Missy Look – Watercolor, 6 x 4, by Deanna Kraft.

Thus began a twenty-two year relationship with a feisty little red mare who refused to load, broke every lead line she was ever tied with, wouldn’t allow a pair of clippers within a mile of her head, and once hid in the woods and eluded capture for an entire summer day when she was tired of being bossed around by a twerp. Clever, cunning, and prone to biting and refusing the bit, she was, in my eyes, perfect. In spite of her deficient training and resistance to my latest horse book techniques, I loved every hair on her body, and the long hot summer days spent with friends playing cowboys and Indians, racing through pastures, and braiding manes and tails were a dream come true.

Missy and I grew up together, and later, while attending veterinary school, I gradually learned how hard I had been on that little horse those days that I rode her too long and too fast. I felt immensely guilty for my ignorance, and tried to repay her with a long, happy retirement. No matter how much I fawned over her, it never felt like enough. When we were both thirty-two she had to be put down, and with tears streaming I said good-bye. I still feel that I owe her, and now, every horse painting I do has a little bit of Missy in it somewhere. Her characteristic stripe can be seen on the face of many of my subjects, and if not that, they may be hiding in the woods,… or just have that Missy look in their eye.

To view more of Deanna’s artwork visit her web site at www.stillhorseart.com.

Moonstorm – Watercolor,14 x 18, by Deanna Kraft.

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