By Patty Wilber
Volunteering was something my mom did (still does) a lot of, and I guess it rubbed off on me.
This year, I ended up committing to DECORATE the display windows at the State Fair for BOTH the Appaloosa Club and the Buckskin Club. Me. Decorate.
Me, who might be caught wearing purple jeans (someone gave them to me, they fit and they are wranglers…), a ragged red vest (ok I did replace that, finally) over a thrift store long sleeve shirt (I bought new sunshirts but they are so pretty and will get covered in dirt at the barn in about two seconds, so they are still in the closet), topped with a flamingo bucket hat (I prefer basebal caps, but when all my hair fell out with chemo, I declined to grow it long again, and my ears were getting fried so I needed a bucket hat to save my ears… and the flamingos are fun…).
I was scared to be in charge of the windows!
To get enough material to decorate, I went through my stuff and found a fair amount of pretty cool things! I also solicited materials from club members and was able to pick some up, while other folks delivered items (like saddles–thanks, Julia, Natalie, and Connie!).
With all that we were able to put together some pretty decent windows representing the two associations!
On Sunday, Jim helped me tote everything to the fairgrounds. Together, we put the New Mexico Buckskin Horse Association display together! We had to rehang the banner three times to center better, and to lower it. When you are inside the window, there is a lot of height, but when you are outside, you stand behind a railing and can’t see up and in too well, so things have to be lower than you might think! The image below has a ton of glare, but you get the idea!
2025 New Mexico Buckskin Horse Association display window at State Fair.
Jim and I started on the New Mexico Appaloosa Club window, too, but Joy, Heather, and Connie were coming Wednesday, with more! Lots more!
On Wednesday, me, Joy, Heather, and Connie had a good time getting it all put together in the semi-dark (because the display lights were not on). Once we got it all done, the light guy came, and WOW whole thing popped with the colors. It might sound silly, but it was exciting to see it jump to life!
2025 New Mexico Appaloosa Club State Fair window display!
It turned out to be a lot of fun!
Appaloosa and Buckskin classes are Sept 12-14 at Expo New Mexico! Cattle classes are the 13th! Stop by for all the excitement!
boots look too clean, but I guess when you are s
Nice that this year you don’t have to take time off from classes to compete Enjoy
The western boots are in fact brand new. But kind of a buckskin ish color. The English boots are just clean.
oh–the I added the English boots later–drat–posted the wrong pic!