Marsha Brown
CNHI
WEATHERFORD —
The thing that strikes people when they first meet Megan Parks is that she has the baffling ability to wear a pair of faded jeans, t-shirt and ragged, oversized men’s plaid flannel shirt and well-worn cowboy boots in a manner that makes it look like a fashion statement. And her large Gypsy Horse named “Clive,” who is resting his head on her shoulder, seems almost like an accessory.
“Clive’s a very good boy,” Meg said about the spectacular black and white horse with the eyes of a Cocker Spaniel. “These horses are so good-natured. I was riding him in the Parade of Lights in Fort Worth and there was a marching band behind us. He didn’t flinch, so calm, so sweet and so trusting. That’s the way these horses were bred. That makes sense if you think about it. If you’re traveling with your entire family and all your belongings are in a wagon, you want the horses that are pulling that wagon to be calm and you want to be able to have complete confidence in them.”
Today, Meg, as her friends call her, is ankle deep in mud and surrounded by a small herd of the Gypsy Horses on her small South Parker County farm near Silverado.
The Gypsy Horses are a relatively new passion for her since she first photographed several of the breed belonging to Craig and Di Ann Towson of Weatherford’s Image Setter Farms five years ago. The photo shoot had a profound impact on Meg’s life in a number of ways.
“I caught the editorial bug,” Meg said. “I discovered that I love shooting photography for magazines.”
The shoot also set her equine photography apart from the horse-shooting herd and officially launched her career as the North Texas equine photographer to use.
Today, Meg is becoming the darling of photo editors of magazines, mostly those celebrating the western lifestyle.
“That was one of the first articles I ever did was for Parker County Today about little girls and their love of horses,” Meg said. “That’s where I met Di Ann Towson and her daughter Laura. They’re like part of my family now.”
As Meg developed a deep friendship with the Towson family she also became a Gypsy Horse enthusiast, then a Gypsy Horse owner.
In January, Meg showed two of her Gypsy Horses at the Fort Worth Stock Show World Show and both made an impressive showing. ACR Diamond Girl (a.k.a. Molly) won the title of Reserve World Champion Mare, Best Born in USA, and Johnny Ringo took the title of Reserve Champion Gelding.
Meg started out as an artist whose medium of choice was oilpaints on canvas. She also designed jewelry.
“My father worked for 20th Century Fox,” Meg said. “I worked as an artist. I got my first pro camera in 1984, a Pentex to augment my art.”
Meg’s promising career as a painter ended with a car accident in which she sustained a number of serious injuries that included a spine injury, from which she regained some mobility but not all. For years, Meg had a limited range of motion in her neck.
“It was that car wreck that caused me to put down my paintbrushes and pick up a camera,” Meg said. “Then digital cameras came out and wow — I experienced instant gratification.”
After her first pictorial in Parker County Today Magazine, which ended up as a six-page article, Meg was off to the races.
“That article gave me my start,” Meg said. “I was bitten by the editorial bug! It was hard to break into an already saturated market, but I feel like I bring a tiny bit of a different angle. I was one of the first photographers to shoot a two-week-old foal in the pasture doing naturally what they do in a show arena.” (Cutters work in an arena or cutting pen)
Since then, Meg’s work has appeared in Quarter Horse News, Horse Illustrated, Western Horseman, Cowboys & Indians, Barrel Horse News and of course, The Horseman Magazine. Her calendar is normally pretty crowded.
“Meg’s photos have a distinctive look,” said Shelly Mowrey of Mowrey Cutting Horses. “She’s just amazing at what she does. She’s not just someone who shoots pictures like everybody else. Megan is a true artist.”
Megan and her Gypsy Horses
“(Gypsy Horseman) Syd Harker came to Texas as the head of his clan,” Meg said. “He’s internationally well-known for his honesty. He’s a born again Christian. He raised Di Ann’s (Towson’s) horse, Jimbo. Syd had a personal interest in my horse Johnny Ringo as his breeder. Trainers Gene and Sonja Brown started him, where he learned to pull a cart, but Meg finished his training for “In Hand.” Johnny won Reserve World Champion Gelding, and three unanimous decisions in Novice Halter, Color and Best Born in USA. (You have an English judge and USA Judge), Novice halter meaning he’d won the unanimous decision.”
What was Meg’s favorite part of the experience?
“Just showing up was the best thing,” Meg said. “I’ve been around the show ring a lot and the neatest thing about the whole experience was getting to know Syd.”
A special Award was given to Molly from the English Judge, the Chywoon Stud Trophy for “the future of the Gypsy Horse in the US.”
“Our Gypsy Horses are really ambassadors of the breed,” Meg said. “The Gypsy horses have only been in the country for 12 years.”
