To Deacon Barry: My Obsession

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I was going to entitle this blog posting:

"My Obsession --- For Deacon Barry"

But then...I looked at that sentence again and noticed that it didn't sound...er... quite right.

In fact, it ... uh.... sounded rather scandalous---OOPS!

So I changed the title of this posting to:

"To Deacon Barry: My Obsession"

Let me explain.

In my last posting, I talked about about being excited because my new cleaning lady "raises paint ponies" which, as many people know who read this blog, I am obsessed with.

I LOVE PAINT PONIES!!

I think paint ponies are the coolest things in the universe!! And I'm fortunate enough to live and work in an area in which paint pony breeders are very common---and thus, there's lovely paint ponies all over the place---and I stick their pictures on my blog whenever possible.

I love to look at the paint ponies, feed them pears, talk to them, and take pictures of them. And one of the saddest things that happened to me when my old computer went kablooey was that I lost all my pictures---including those of all the paint ponies around here, waaaaaah!

One of my ex-husbands (not the biker---the IBM programmer) is coming to Texas in the spring and he said he'll fix my old computer in order to get all my pictures back for me.

Anyhoo, Deacon Barry asked me what a paint pony was. And so I'm making a special blog posting just to give him the answer. (Plus, I just love talking about paint ponies!)

And here is the answer to his question:

A paint pony is a particular breed of American horse which is colored in a certain, fascinating way. In fact, they're specifically bred to be colored in those ways.

Paint horses are very similar to the Pinto breed, discussed here:

Some people can really get into spirited arguments over the characteristics of these unusual horses, with some arguing that there are very definite differences between "paints" and "pintos" by virtue of their breeding. And yet still others insist that there are no "breeding differences"--- and that the only "differences" are the horses' coloring varieties.

In fact, I've seen people argue these issues to the point of pistols-at-dawn over whether a horse was actually a "paint" or a "pinto", but I'll let you read the definitions and check out the pictures for yourselves and see what you think.

Personally, I am one of those who think paints and pintos are very different in their breeding and "looks", but my sister is one of those who lumps them all into one category, stating: "Aaaah, they're all just pintos....", which causes me to cringe every time she makes that unholy declaration....

I have nothing against pintos but I just don't think they're the same as paints. (Where is my "second"? I should do like they did in the olden days and challenge her to a duel over such statements....)

(In Texas, you don't challenge someone to a duel in the classy ways that they do it in other countries---like lightly slapping them in the face with a beautiful glove or something. Around here you do it the old-fashioned Texan way, which usually begins with the sentence: "The HELL you say!" when a sentence one finds mortifyingly offensive has been uttered within their hearing....)

(Like if somebody called your paint pony a "pinto" or something....)

Anyhoo, there are various horse associations for paint ponies---

and also for the pintos.

And such associations frequently have rather strict horse coat coloring requirements for membership.

Horselovers, especially Texans, LOVE their paint ponies, and I've seen some of the breeders come up with some absolutely STUNNING color combinations. I prefer the ponies which are mostly white with a few large "patches" of light and medium brown, with long white manes--- but there's a zillion lovely paint pony "looks" which make my heart flutter and sing Road Nurse songs whenever I catch a glimpse of the beautiful creatures...

There is no prettier sight than a paint pony galloping through a green pasture, white tail and mane flying in the wind.....

(Don't tell Bonita-Mae, the little paint pony out in Pasture #3, that I said anything about preferring the white and brown paint colorings---she's a Piebald Pinto and is covered with little grey and white "spots". She'd absolutely KILL me for saying I prefer the other colorings, even though she's gorgeous in her own right.)

(You know how vain and sensitive these high-falutin' paints and pintos can be....)

Anyhoo, I'm desolate that I lost my lovely paint pony pictures in my old computer. But....I have one consolation left. I have my collection of paint ponies statuettes from The Trail of the Painted Ponies. Here are my favorite ones:

Here's the one called "Many Tribes":

And here's the Holiday Painted Pony called: "Nutcracker Pony":

And here's the one simply called "Blondes":

(And I'll let you guess which one was given to me as a gift because the giver stated that it "reminded" them of me)....

Unfortunately, I can't afford too many of these beautiful figurines. My big dream is to line a wall with them. But it's going to take me awhile because they're expensive.

(What I wouldn't GIVE for the "retired" pony called "Horsefeathers" or else the one called "Cheyenne Painted Rawhide"....)

(Anyhoo, how's that for an answer about my favorite subject---painted ponies--- Deacon Barry?)