How could I ever possibly choose? The nice thing is, I never had to. I live in a part of Eastern Ontario where there is lots of English riding activity. We have shows for Jumping, Hunter-Jumpers, Dressage, horse show classes for Saddleseat, Arabian Native Costume, and Driving, and lots of stables that teach proper English Riding skills. We also have a little Polo, as well as Fox-less Hunting. So many marvelous equine activities to enjoy! And I enjoy painting them all!
One of my dreams, (along with having a horse of my own), was a pair of shiny black English boots and a black velvet hard hat. When I achieved both dreams, they were even better in reality, even though I had to trade my velvet helmet in for an upgraded, safer model. I still have the velvet one though!
But once I began my horse adventure, I quickly learned that there was a large alternate Equine culture in the Valley and surrounding areas. My friends (and home barn) all rode mainly Western, and I quickly slid into that laid back, companionable way of riding and became aware of the thriving Western culture around here - Quarter Horses, Paints, rodeos, Western classes at horse shows, Western Games, friends gathering for a trail ride with maybe some music after, and a great Western tack shop. We even have a large number of beef cattle farms. They are not ranches and we don't have prairie or desert, or huge tracts of grazing land. And although we don't have cattle drives, I've often ridden through a herd, and followed along when my friend was rounding up some cattle that had crawled under a loosened wire fence and strayed down the road. (Have you ever seen a cow crawl? Hysterical!) For years, many of our country young people have headed out West to work on the ranches for a time before they come back to work on the family farm or start their own related business.
I fell in love with this aspect of the Ottawa Valley and from the beginning, I've loved painting it.
I have wondered for a long time why we have this in our area. Then recently, I read that the great painter of the West, Frederick Remington came here to paint in the Pontiac Hills, a range of extremely ancient mountains that have been worn down to craggy, stern, and very beautiful hills. We live a short ten minute ferry ride across the river from these hills, and I have been able to see them in the distance all my life. Did Remington bring the Western way with him, or did he come here because it was already in place?
I guess I'll never know, and in the end, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that we can enjoy both worlds here, and while I still enjoy watching the English way of riding and the shows, and I'll never part with my elegant black English boots, you can see by their battered appearance that the Western boots were used far more often. The only thing still holding them together is love and great memories.
Heather Anderson
http://www.heatheranderson-animalart.com/
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