NATCHEZ &045; Forest Williams spent part of his Sunday afternoon with a tall, beautiful redhead.

&uot;Red&uot; is a 2-year-old quarter horse, a byproduct of Williams’ lifelong love of riding.

The Vidalia resident’s grandfather got him &uot;kicked off&uot; with riding horses, and Williams hasn’t stopped since.

&uot;It goes way back,&uot; he said of his hobby. &uot;I was at least 12 years old.&uot;

Williams, who works for the City of Vidalia, doesn’t have a lot of time to spend with his horse, especially in the winter when the sun goes down about the same time he comes home from work.

But he spends as much time as he can on the weekends with Red, riding or, more often, participating in rodeos.

In fact, Williams and other riding buffs in Vidalia would like to start a club or rodeo arena.

&uot;We’re just getting started with that,&uot; he said.

Williams knows Natchez riding clubs are working on a rodeo arena in Adams County, but he would also like to see something like that in Concordia Parish.

For now, he often participates in events in Tensas Parish or other places.

Williams has owned a number of horses over the years, although his grandfather started him out on a Shetland pony &045; with a piece of string for a bridle.

Now, Red is one of the tallest horses he has owned. Just 2, he will soon go to roping school, Williams said.

Riding can be an expensive hobby, Williams admits &045; especially if a horse gets sick.

&uot;This one ain’t too bad,&uot; he said. &uot;But it can put a dent in your pocket.

&uot;If you don’t do nothing but ride, it can be expensive. But if you put time into it Š they’ll pay for themselves.&uot;