Letters From My Younger Self
By: Brittany Bevis
When looking back on old photo albums and memorabilia from childhood, you can typically can see a hint of the person you would eventually grow into. Likely some of your interests, passions, and dreams are still the same as they were when you were just a tiny tyke.
Recently, An Equine Production show management team’s newest member, Allie Board, was cleaning out old boxes when she stumbled across a series of essays that she wrote when she was seven to ten years old. These sweet stories help to remind us of a simpler time, when it was all about the horse.
Horseback Riding
January 30, 2001
“If I were a professional sport star, I would be a horseback rider. I think it would be a good job, because you’re not supposed to yell at horses, and I like the horses so much that I would not yell at them. I would make about $25 a week. I would sign autographs with my horse’s name and my name. I wouldn’t let TV people use my name. I would train my kids how to ride a horse when they are 12 years of age. I would stop when my horse died, but would probably get a new horse.”
Another essay, from a few year later, shows a deeper understanding of what it means to care for another living, breathing creature.
September 5, 2003
“A pet I would like to own is a horse. My pet would be brown with a black mane and tail. He would have one white sock on his back right leg. The other three legs would be solid black. He would have a white blaze and star on his forehead. I would care for my pet by brushing him. I would curry him down with a curry comb to get all the mud loosed up. Then, I would use a hard, bristle brush to brush the mud off. Then, I would take the soft bristle brush. This would dust his legs and face off. Then, I would use a comb to get knots out of the mane and tail. Then, I would grab the hoof pick to get the dirt out of his hooves.”
Allie says she has notebooks overflowing with these kind of stories, an early indicator that horses would come to be an integral part of her life as an adult. “I have notebooks full of horse stories from when I was a seven to ten-year-old kid,” Allie says. “The last one is one of my favorites, because my good all-around horse a few years ago was a bay with a white sock, and now I have two bays! I’m really just a horse crazy kid who never outgrew the phase and never lost the passing for riding, grooming, and being at horse shows.”
