Linda Law and her Appaloosa horse
will enter the spotlight Saturday at the American Royal bedecked
in deer hide, bearskin, sparkling beads and sweeping fringe.
The costume includes everything from a knife in a beaded sheath
to an elk hide-covered saddle copied from one in a museum.
Law, 69, even has a lifelike American Indian baby doll at
the ready, but no cradleboard — at least not in time for this
show.
At speeds of roughly an inch per hour, Law said, the beadwork
for that is an ongoing project.
“She’s always got something in the works,” laughed her husband,
Don, as he sidestepped an assortment of memorabilia laid out
in the couple’s Butler, Mo., living room.
Linda Law will be among an array of horses and riders performing
in this weekend’s Equine Extravaganza, presented by the Saddle
& Sirloin Club.
The show features trick riding and roping by Texas charro
Jerry Diaz; his wife, Staci; and their 5-year-old son, Nicolas.
This year nearly all the other performers will be local. They
include dancing horses, reining horses, Arabian horses and
riders in traditional costume, the Carriage and Driving Society
of Greater Kansas City, Mission Valley Hunt Club and the Royal
Friesians of Kansas City.
Heart of America Appaloosa Horse Club members will highlight
the versatility of their breed, with riders demonstrating
sidesaddle and even dressage, said director Patty Hough of
Peculiar.
Law will demonstrate what’s called the “heritage” class at
Appaloosa shows, where horses and riders are judged on period
costumes.
Appaloosas — recognized by their mottled coats and striped
hooves — are known for their history with the Nez Perce Indians,
thought to be the first tribe to selectively breed their herds.
Indians tanned their leather with animal brains and sewed
with sinews torn from carcasses, Law said. Heritage competition
rules ban machine sewing but do allow artificial sinew and
commercially tanned leather.
Law hand-made many of her own pieces, including a creamy white
deer-hide dress she sewed, fringed and beaded to replicate
an early 19th-century Nez Perce outfit.
Through the years she has collected other items from estate
sales or stores in Indian country. Some of her largest pieces
were gifts, including a bearskin saddle pad and a matching
beaded necklace breast collar for her horse.
The Appaloosa she’ll ride Saturday, named Sizzlin’ Paradise,
is borrowed from another Butler resident. Not every horse
can stay calm while covered with beads, fringe, chimes and
a strange, uncomfortable saddle, she explained.
Law and her husband have been breeding, selling, training
and showing Appaloosas for about 50 years. Their children
and grandchildren now help at the couple’s How’s Come Ranch.
Anymore, Law only competes in classes
where horses are led from afoot or in heritage classes, where
she needs a boost into the saddle but the fastest gait is
a trot.
Law has placed as high as fourth in the nation in the Appaloosa
heritage class.
She said some serious competitors spent small fortunes outfitting
themselves and their horses with all authentic antique pieces.
But for Law, it’s about enjoying the process.
Her dress has faint pencil marks outlining a future phase
of beadwork.
Law said Indian women might have worked all day to earn a
handful of beads, so they probably did their decorating one
step at a time.
“I think theirs was always kind of like mine,” she said, “always
a work in progress.”
See Linda Law, Appaloosas and other horse performances at
7:30 p.m. Saturday in Hale Arena at the American Royal Complex,
1701 American Royal Court in Kansas City’s West Bottoms.
•Tickets are $15 for adults, or $9 for ages 5 to 12. To purchase,
visit americanroyal.com.
