Lightening

Here in South Mississippi we are well known for two things...big trees and volatile weather.  The two don't necessarily go well together.  In 2005 we were visited by a lady named Katrina.  The eye of the storm passed directly over us and she wreaked her havoc for a hundred miles east and west of us.  Over 100 tornadoes were reported over our little town which is located 70 miles inland from the Gulf.  On our place we lost more than 100 large oaks, pines and hickories.  Some of these trees had been standing longer than I've been alive, and that's a long time.
The storm began pounding us at 7:00 AM, and 10 hours later it began to slack a bit.  At 2:00 in the afternoon I decided to check on the horses.  My wife said, "You're crazy".  Maybe so.  We had moved the horses away from the barn to minimize the danger.  The wind was brutal, the rain was torrential.  I could barely walk through the pasture.  I realized I was tasting the ocean...it was raining salt water.  When I got to the horses, they all had their butts turned to the wind and rain, grazing as if it was just another day.  They had the good sense to be out in the open away from trees and other potential danger.  How do they know?

Yesterday we were having another typical Mississippi summer afternoon.  Clouds were gathering from the south and east.  I was sitting on the porch watching the weather turn ugly.  I could smell the rain.  Soon the wind started to blow, and I knew we were in for a big storm.  From where I was sitting I could see the horses standing under a small grove of pine trees at the far end of one of the pastures.  They were totally unconcerned.  From having watched this particular scene play out many times in the years that I have been breeding horses, I knew that they were aware of the situation, but it was not yet time to move. 

Several minutes more went by and all of a sudden, as if pushed by an unseen hand, they all spun around and began running toward me..away from the trees.  I knew they were heading for the clearing where there are no trees.  I have provided shelter for them where they can get out of the weather...if they choose.  Most of the time they don't.  If the weather is going to be bad, they want to be out in the open.  I've observed this hundreds of times over the last 35 years.  Yesterday they headed for the clearing, and I knew the lightening was about to begin.  How do they know?

Joe, Benji and More

If you need some inspiration and want to enjoy a great book, then I'm passing this information along to you.  Our friend, Joe Camp, has just released his new book "Who Needs Hollywood".  This is the story of how Joe disregadred everyone that said "It can't be done!" and did it..  A great story about making the hit movie "Benji" when the odds and Hollywood were against him.  Truly a tale that personifies faith and persistance.

The Cover

We're right on target to have books very soon.  The cover is complete.  I used the painting of Michael Martin Murphey because it seems to say everything that the book is about.   Murph and his horse, Wildfire, are looking at each other in a pose of genuine respect.  That's what the book is about, relationships between people and a very special horse in their lives.  The stories they told me are incredible.

NOLAN RYAN!!

I know that I said Vaughn would be entering all of the new posts on this blog....but he's been too busy and  is pretty shy when it comes to writing things about himself.  But, I'm  not!  We are pretty darn excited to announce that Nolan Ryan, baseball legend, will be writing the forward to "Tell Me About That Horse".  I guess most people know about Nolan's incredible history as a baseball player.  But, it may surprise some that Nolan is a rancher and fellow horse lover.  We can't wait for his contribution to this project!

In the beginning...

It's been three years since I started interviewing people for "Tell Me About That Horse".  I thought it would be an interesting concept for a book, coupled with my portraits of the interviewees, but my wife, Valerie, was skeptical.  Not about the concept, but she was skeptical that I would be willing to leave my front porch long enough to get any interviews.  In her words, "The people that you want to interview are not going to come to Petal, Mississippi.  You're going to have to go to them."  And so I did.  I accepted that as a challenge, and three years and 30,000 miles later I have forty five interviews, portraits, and candid photographs of some of the most interesting people you can imagine telling me about a special horse in their lives.