Florence Parsley, Durant High senior
Her ride: 2003 Appendix

Not the typical whip of an ordinary high schooler, Florence Parsley’s ride has four legs, runs on grain and roughage and can jump over virtually any obstacle found on a cross country trail. Talladega, better known as Ricky Bobby around the barn, Parsley’s horse, is a 16-hand Appendix (quarter horse and thoroughbred mix). Although Ricky Bobby does not wait for Parsley among the other cars of the parking lot, she does take time to ride him after school and on the weekends. She competes in hunter/jumper shows, which is a combination of hunt equitation; horse manners; conformation and rider position; jumping; speed; and accuracy. Parsley has had success, winning first place as well as being named Division Champion. With all her success, Parsley has run into a few hurdles. “My worst show experience was a couple years ago. I took a horse I was training to his first show and he was pretty crazy at home. I don’t know why I thought he would be okay away from home. We were in our flat class cantering and he reared up in the middle of the ring.”

Standing in the cross-ties while getting tacked up, Ricky Bobby attempts to grab anything within his reach with his large, dark muzzle. “He eats everything!” Parsley says. “He gets fed scoops and scoops of feed because he gets worked a lot. ” Bridle, saddle and pad with gold trim in place, Parsley mounts Ricky Bobby and heads out to the riding arena. “If he were a car, Parsley says, “he would be a semi truck because he is awful at turning. But he would be the prettiest semi out there.”

Mariana Rehacek, Durant High

Kelsey Young, Newsome High senior
Her ride: 2000 Ford F-150

Kelsey Young is extremely proud of her 2000 Ford F-150 XLT, passed down from grandfather to father, and finally to her, her first car.

Kelsey flaunts her truck, complete with an Ed Hardy steering wheel cover, new radio, amp and speakers, a 10-inch JL audio subwoofer, and a blue dome light. She keeps her volume between 22 and 25. “My truck starts to shake! It gets so loud!”

Kelsey says she is stared at wherever she goes. She owes half of that attention to being a girl driving a truck, and the other half to her “loud and obnoxious” music, she says.

 “I love it to death; I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Kelsey says. Some girls have makeup, others cell phones, but Kelsey has her truck. The only thing that is less than positive is the gas mileage, around 18 on the highway and 16 in the city, on a good day.

In the future, she plans on adding even more: a 4- to 5-inch lift and 30- to 33-inch tires are the first things on her wish list. “I want height, I want it to need a step,” she says.

Her truck is macho, “except for the enormous heart sticker on the back.” It serves as a reminder, she says, that, yes, girls like trucks, too.

“I love watching people stare at me as I walk to my truck, and then the look on their faces when I actually get in it, and thinking, yeah, that’s mine.”

Tori Lawhorn, Newsome High