Summertime Picnic with the Horses -

There are few things in life I love more than picnicking with my horses. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been drawn to the strength and beauty that horses emanate. I have long loved that I can close my eyes on a horse and suddenly I am transported to another time. Horseback riding for me is a way to feel connected to history and to nature. Even if I could never ride again though, I still would not give up my horses. I can’t even imagine myself without horses!

My greatest goal in life is to see my horses run free out my kitchen window. Someday I hope The Rose Table will be set on a farm of my own – maybe even a vineyard? – and I’ll have dinner party after dinner party set al fresco with my horses in the background. You heard it here first! Until then though, I am satisfied picnicking with them on lazy Sundays.

Prince Cuddles | The Rose Table — Prince

I have two horses: an American Saddlebred named The Enchanting Heir (Prince for short) and a Friesian named Wendy. I first laid eyes on Prince when I was just twelve years old. It was liebe auf den ersten Blick: love at first sight. I thought he was the most fiery, spirited, brilliant looking horse I had ever seen. In the fourteen years since, I have never fallen off of him. He may be fiery, but he is the most loyal horse a gal could ask for.

I love this picture. You can see “true love” written all over my face when I look at him.

Wendy, who recently modeled for Fort Worth Magazine (proud mom alert!), was also love at first sight. I saw a video of her online floating around the arena to Enya and just knew I had to have her. She looked like an angel. She was just a year old when I bought her. She was so tiny!

Sometimes I forget how young Wendy is (she’s eight) because she has such a calm nature. I’ve always loved that about her. She was not particularly feeling this picnic photo shoot though. She’s from Germany originally and is not a fan of the Texas heat!

I keep my horses at beautiful Black Star Sport Horses, where horses are treated like royalty. I’m so spoiled at Black Star with a state-of-the-art indoor riding arena, huge stalls, and hundreds of acres of wooded trails to explore. The most important thing though is how happy and healthy my horses are!

My friend Sara is the assistant trainer at Black Star and offered to make lunch for our picnic. Sara is from Italy and made a super Italian lunch: speck wrapped cantaloupe and caprese pasta. These are both quick, easy dishes that let the ingredients shine – the perfect picnic dishes! For the pasta, she boiled noodles until al dente, drained, and tossed with a bit of olive oil, pepper, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and hand torn basil. She sprinkled asiago on top after dishing it up.

I brought red wine and two varieties of fresh cookies I’d baked that morning: oatmeal raisin and oatmeal chocolate chip. Picnics just beg for cookies, don’t they?