I’m a horse person, so when the Muleshoe Art Association talked about taking a road trip for our January meeting, and a trip to Amarillo’s 6th Street came up, I suggested we visit the American Quarter Horse Association and Museum which is also in Amarillo. So we did.
We carpooled and headed for the AQHA museum first. It’s in a lovely building next door to the AQHA Headquarters building on I-40. And its official title is the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum, the Hall of Fame designation coming from the display and recognition of founding stallions of the quarter horse breed and founding fathers of the association. The museum title comes from the history of the world and the United States laid out with the history of important developments, events, races, and achievements of the quarter horse right along with it. The Scharbauer Gallery and Jana and Johnny Trotter Classroom houses changing exhibits and is currently housing displays of the diversity of roles horses play in twelve different countries. A theatre shows a short video about quarter horses, and upstairs is where the timeline of history is found. There is much more, tons of historical trophies, a retired racing starting gate, racing silks, a tack display, saddles, information on feeding horses, all kinds of things. Artwork featuring horses created by local art students was on display when we were there, and that display changes from time to time.
I spent most of my time going through the history timeline and could have spent more time there, but my phone rang, and I was requested to go downstairs where everyone was waiting to go to 6th Street. We took a quick group picture with the Orren MIxer sculpture of the ideal quarter horse and departed for another history lesson area in the city.
So we were off to find a place for lunch and wound up at Braceros Grill and Bar on 6th Street, the original trail of the old Route 66. We chose the grill rather than the bar! Lunch was tasty; we chose well.
One purpose for visiting 6th Street was to visit an old friend of one of our members, Mike Jones. We walked down the street and met Bob Lile, proprietor of Lile Art Gallery and maker of unusual jewelry from paint chips from the old Cadillacs at the Cadillac Ranch farther down the road on I-40.
Bob and Mike relived adventures they shared while working with the Boy Scouts, and we enjoyed hearing them and taking in all the varied works of art and Route 66 memorabilia in the shop.
We left the gallery and headed home, but now I know how to get to this 6th Street I had heard about when we moved up here.
And one of these days I will go back and see what else is going on at the Quarter Horse Museum.
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