A Horse to Dye For

Have you heard the age-old comment that people tend to look like the dogs they own? I suppose I've seen jowly fellows that own English bulldogs and curly-haired women walking frou-frou poodles, but I'm not sure that I look anything at all like my Schnauzer, Betsy. However, I am beginning to wonder if, over time, some horse owners begin to resemble their horses. I may even be guilty of that.

During my palomino-owning era, my hair had very distinct blond highlights. That wasn't natural. Though I've almost forgotten the true color of my hair, I believe it's a plain, dark brown, the shade of hot coffee. But as Jessica, my hair stylist, says, "A new hair color is just a bottle away!"

And thus, when I sold both palominos and ended up with Wally as the sole horse on my property, my hair mutated to a golden brown with red accents. It's gotten more pronounced as time goes on. I didn't purposely mean for that to happen. I think subconsciously it happened and my hair color just evolved that way. Though I do recall I kept urging Jessica to "add more red to the mix."

But now, with the economy tanking, I'm dyeing my own hair at home. Yesiree, Lady Clairol (or L'Oreal, whichever is on sale at Target) and I are teaming up to combat the gray hairs on the top of my head. Besides, the $90 or so I was spending every six weeks at the hair salon equates to 4 bales of prime orchard grass/alfalfa hay and a bag of pellets. Even I can do the math there to realize I can save a bundle by doing the dyeing deed myself.

My biggest obstacle wasn't wrestling with the cheap man-sized rubber gloves and the noxious fumes, but in deciding precisely which hair dye color to purchase. Instead of choosing between Lightest Auburn and Golden Brown, I wanted some more descriptive tones. Rather than holding up a little cardboard box in the aisleway and trying to determine if a 3-inch square photograph revealed the color I was searching for, I wanted color terms that were easier to comprehend. In essence what I wanted were hair dye boxes labeled with colors like Warm Sorrel or Flaxen Tail. I know what those colors are!

My solution was to mix two solutions: a dark blond and a warm reddish hue, so that I ended up with a color along the lines of Chestnut Mare. Honestly, I think it looks rather nice! However, I will simply die if my current dye job elicits a comment I got from a complete stranger a couple of years ago. I was trail riding Lexi, one of my former palominos. I was jogging up a hill, my very blond tresses bouncing atop my shoulders, when this lady remarked with a smile, "Your horse is so pretty! And your hair exactly matches her mane! It's so cute!"

If anyone tells me that my hair now matches Wally's rusty coat color, I'm going to dye. Again.

*************************************************

Feel free to contribute your thoughts and comments (and hair color tips!) by clicking on "comments" below.