AN  OLD  HORSEWOMAN

When I am an old horsewoman, I shall wear turquoise and
 diamonds and a straw hat that doesn't suit me.  And I shall spend
 my Social Security on sugar cubes and carrots, and sit in the
 alleyway of my barn and listen to my horses breathe.
 
     I will sneak out in the middle of a summer night and ride the
 old sorrel gelding across the moonstruck meadow if my old bones
 will allow it.
 
     And when people come to call, I will smile and as I walk past
 the garden to the barn and show--instead of flowers growing--
 stalls freshened with straw.  I will shovel and sweat and wear hay
 in my hair as if it were jewels.
 
     And I will be an embarrassment to all who will not yet have found
 the peace in being free to have a horse (or pony) as a friend...
 a friend who waits at the midnight hour with soft muzzle and a nicker
 and patient eyes for the kind of woman I will be (when I am old)!
 
             --submitted by Trudy Hatfield, reprinted from the
               So. Fla. Trail Riders/Broward newsletter