Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A s FA L L 2 0 1 5 70 70 When Tani had an accident, Libba refused to put him down, opting instead for a se- rious operation and dedicating herself to bringing him back to health. Tani served as Libba's artistic muse, dominating the many drawings and designs that flowed from her like water from a stream. Totally absorbed in both her horse and her art, Libba conjured a Hollywood style daydream of her future wedding when she would ride astride Tani, wearing special white leather chaps down a straw strewn aisle to meet her groom. ey would ride off together to forge a life centered on family, horses, and art. When Libba's fiancé Andy Chilcote proposed, she was quick to say yes and just as quick to explain that theirs would not be a traditional church wedding and hers would not be a traditional wedding gown. No, Libba would bring alive her childhood fantasy of a horseback wedding. She immediately set to work with a leather carver to craft a magnificent pair of white leather chaps accented with silver conches inlaid with tur- quoise stones and with their wedding date tooled on the belt. Each leg was capped with turquoise, white, and black leather fringe, and finished with a tooled horse head along each foot. ey contacted Dunrovin Ranch, knowing that the ranch would welcome a horseback wedding and would hap- pily accommodate Tani as a guest horse. eir wedding was straight from Libba's imagination and could not have been better had it been produced by Cecil B. DeMille. Since riding together down that straw strewn aisle as husband and wife on that beautiful sun-filled afternoon, Andy and Libba have shaped a life of fam- ily, horses, and art. eir new son, Preston, recently rode for the first time with his mother on her special horse; he proudly wears a shiny pair of brown leather chaps Libba designed and made especially for him. (See Libba's art at www.ShadowMountain- ArtStudio.com.) It seems that some Hollywood daydreams do come true. WEDDING DREAMS FULFILLED AT DUNROVIN RANCH H ollywood was hanging in the air when seven-year-old Libba Lauchnor first laid eyes on "her" horse. Having just seen Disney's 101 Dalmatians, Libba was convinced that the spotted Appaloosa foal produced by her mother's "plain Jane" bay mare was most certainly a Dalmatian. e frisky stud colt was named Tanimara, Tani for short. by SUZANNE MILLER photography by TAMAR KASBERG

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