I've been getting some feedback and emails from readers. Thanks for your comments. Keep them coming!

After I wrote about how my young riding students were bundles of endless energy at last weekend's horse show, one mom related in an email how her young daughter was so gung-ho about riding that a good winter snow sounded appealing. Such inclement weather would mean a temporary ban on her daughter's riding, which would allow the adults to catch their breath.

I find the enthusiasm little girls have for their ponies and horses endearing. I have one little girl (who doesn't yet have her very own horse) who, when permitted to choose the decor for her new bedroom, insisted that it be decorated like a stable. Her closet doors are rough-hewn, unfinished wood. There's a mural of a stable shedrow on her wall and the headboard of her bed is made of jump standards and crossed rails. Her grandmother, caught up in the creative frenzy, explained how she was going to turn the flower boxes outside the window sill into mangers and fill them with straw. I have yet to see it in person, but I understand that it could start a new trend: Barn Chic.

The only aspect of a horsey lifestyle that makes it into my interior design is dust. I tried once to integrate a lovely striped Navajo saddle blanket (well, I thought it was lovely) into my living room by using it as a throw rug. My husband was aghast. "People will think you were sitting on the floor cleaning your western tack," he said.

He also put the kybosh on hanging a collection of vintage snaffle bits on the wall. "The place will look like a blacksmith's workshop!"

Thank goodness I didn't give in to impulse and buy those wagon wheel planters, huh?

I’d love to hear your thoughts or any stories you have. Click the comment button below or if you prefer, email us at hc-editor@bowtieinc.com.