Having helped many guys pick gifts for their gals, we often hear that they just are not sure how to tell if their lady will like her gift. Look, Cowboy, she loves you. You could wrap up road apples and make her smile, right? Well, maybe with a witty card.

There are some sure-fire ways to make your selections.

1)      Look at her makeup, or lack of. If she wears blue around her eyes, she likes blue. If she wears lots of pink on her face, she likes pink. If green is her eye-shadow of choice, it will be a good choice for a blouse.  If she almost never wears any make-up, then naturals, neutrals, and tan tones will win her approval. 

2)      If she has horses and dogs, if she eats, sleeps and breathes horses and dogs, she will appreciate anything “trick” to do with those horses and dogs. Training aids, trail bags, wormer, halters, bags of feed, …  Just remember that if she hangs with horses just because you do, this type gift will not be as appreciated. 

3)      Do you need to get her size in clothing, or belt, or boot? Offer to study her closet because you just read an article on new closet organizers and you wanted to check it out, in a real closet environment. Remember to take pencil & paper to doodle your info. And a ruler might help with such a convincing argument. Once you have your much needed “closet secrets”, you can always say you need to get with the hardware store to see if the brackets will really work. Or what size screws have which weight load capacities. (Or any other really “lame” guy type excuse might work as well.) Or, you might even fix the closet so that your real mission is not exposed.

3a)    You might also ask her Mom, best friend, sister, worst rival, or other female type who might already know her size.

4)      Mom might need a handy-man for a day. Now, this is a gift any woman will appreciate! (And maybe Dad too.) It is crazy, how all those little “honey-do” lists gang up. Every time I hear that somebody doesn’t know what to give, there is always “Mom, I’m gonna clean out the kennels and strip the stalls for you. That wash-rack in the mud might need a good 8 inch depth of cement put in it. (Remember to extend the front past the cross tie chains. Horses like to push forward. Farriers need to reach the foreleg out to clinch nails. Mom will need to walk in front of her horse to brush it's face.)

5)      Back to sizes, it helps to write down a list of names, birthdays, anniversaries, sizes, fav colors, music and other interests, so you can refer back to this vital document, when needed. Mom might help arrange this for you, after the big day. You can use Excel to practice making a spreadsheet too. Then, you can data sort to see what your supposed to be ready for. (It still won't get your gift for you.) 

6)      You could “shop” with her. Novel thought! Online, or in a store, just pay attention to her facial expressions as she traverses the endless aisles of her “research” sanctuary. They all have particular favorites. My Mom adores “Big Lots”. If you’re real sneaky, you can search her IE history. When Cultured Cowboy comes up as a favorite, or frequent visit, she either likes us a lot, or is mad cause something hasn’t shipped from a maker yet. You might not know about her liking us, but you will hear everytime we are on her “ugly” list. Pretty safe to call us if she smiles when our name is mentioned.

7)       I had to make it 7 steps to making her happy with your gift. (Kind of a Steve Covey proven success thing.) So number 7 is ... "blame it on Chuck". If anything goes wrong, man. I'm way over in SC. You live with your woman everyday. Late stuff, wrong size, wrong color, wrong idea, anything...blame it on Chuck. You'll be the hero, and I can take it! My bud, Willie Holt used to say, "When life is too tough for anybody else, its just getting right for Chuck."

Yes, I tried to add my usual slips of humor in this list of “How to Choose”. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope to make you giggle again. Hey, if anybody has more tips, email me & I'll ask a female about adding them. 

  Chuck