The Golden Light of Fall

Oct 132011
 

This photo is from last year, but it does capture a bit of what last night’s ride was like. Though we came back in near full dark. I have flashers and a reflective safety vest to wear, so were were okay for the short bit we had to ride on the road. It was a fabulous evening! Lily moved out and rated back down with ease. We mostly trotted with a bit of rocking chair canter thrown in. The air was crisp and became chilling on the last stretch. I was grinning throughout the day at work today just thinking about it. Horse therapy is the best!

So that is one think I am thankful for. More importantly, I’ve been thinking a lot about lately the wonderful children I share my life with. I feel so very fortunate to be their parent. And I look forward to when they both return from their adventures out in the wide world.

Gurunam is in South America for her study abroad. Here is a recent blog post with photos from her visit to Iguazu Falls. Look it up. It seems like a fantastic place! Apparently, when Eleanor Roosevelt visited, she said, “Poor Niagara!”

Photo courtesy of Gurumustuk Singh Khalsa

And Hargobind is at Miri Piri Academy in Amritsar, India. He has been taking part in forty days of early morning sewa at the Golden Temple. They recently celebrated Diwali and Bhandi Chhor.

My trip to India this fall was another experience for me to grateful for. There is much to say about that. I am still considering what I would like to write about it. On a pracitcal level, it was very nice to get to know the staff and see the school grounds. I found that India had not changed all that much since my visits back in the ’80′s. Yes, people have cell phones and there are a few more cars, but much still remians the same.

I love this time of year when the light turns to gold and the temperatures start to drop. And even the darkness that falls early. It is a time of reflection.

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

  • Sit back, take a few deep breaths, and consider what you have to be thankful for. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do.
  • Post about gratitude on your blog. If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.
  • If you blog, please link back here or leave a comment.
  • Feel free to tag other bloggers, if you like to do that, but it’s not necessary. This is not a meme that obligates you to do anything, but look for gratitude. Oh, and link back, and comment, that’s all I ask.

    • Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:

  • Tired Dog Ranch
  • Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch
  • Earth Dancer Spanish Mustangs
  • The Pony Expression
  • From the Horse’s Back

    • Equinox = mud season

    Sep 212010
     

    Sunday the sun came out after several days of torrential rain, with more forecast. I grabbed the chance to get out to the barn. I arrived to find this lovely mare to greet me. I didn’t take the photo until after I brought her in to consider my plan of action.




    I figured that I would take it step by step. It was warm enough outside, so out came the hose. There is no other way to really groom this much wet mud off a horse. If it is dry, a metal curry works great. There is a method using damp, hot towels that can be quite effective. I didn’t have a pile of towels and hot water though!

    After watching the brown water the consistency of chocolate milk stream off of her (both sides were covered equally), we went for a walk. Down the road in the sun we walked. I took the opportunity to correct a bit of barging ahead that Lily does sometimes. When that was issue resolved, I walked at her hip and ground drove her one reined. It was all a good readjustment of roles. I guess her time off had increased Lily’s self importance somewhat. Now she understands again that she is welcome to her opinion, but mine overrules hers!

    I also fitted her winter rain sheet. Though Lily doesn’t seem to want to be seen in this one. It’s not as nice as her other sheet. A bit baggy around the shoulders, I think.




    I didn’t end up really riding, just hopped on bareback and took a turn down the road once and back. Here is the product of the bath, a shiny dappled dun coat.



    I contemplated leaving her out with her sheet on, but it was too warm. (sigh) Both sides were soon coated again. At least it was relatively dry mud, not quite like the previous layer.



    I am looking forward to the week of sun that’s forecast. I want to haul in some loads of hog fuel. Her paddock has to be dry to get my two wheel drive truck in … and out! It’s getting dark just after seven these days. That will only progress earlier and earlier, now that we are at the equinox. I am sure that Lily will have more rest time this winter. It’s all for the good I suppose. For now, I will enjoy every sunset and every breathtaking ray of light that streams through the clouds.


    Good News

    Jul 182010
     

    I rode Lily last night. I hadn’t ridden her since May 1st, when she was very lame on a trail ride. It’s been paddock rest and numerous vet visits since then. The last ultrasound on Friday looked very good and my vet does not think that she has DSLD/ESPA. Yay! Since her healing had gone so well these last two months, he gave me the go ahead to take her out on short, flat, walking rides.

    One of our fist rides in the Black Forest back in May.

    One of our fist rides in the Black Forest back in May

    It turns out that Lily has a bone chip in her right hind leg. Specifically, it is an avulsion fracture at the top of the cannon bone, where the suspensory ligament insertion is. It is at the lower part of the upper attachment of the suspensory ligament. There was a shadow of it on the last ultrasounds, so we x-rayed and it all looked really clean, only slight, normal spurs on a couple of hock bones. It didn’t show up on x-rays then, as it is tucked in between the splint bones at the top of the cannon. Chris did three separate ultrasound images of it Friday and they were all consistent.

    Riding in the FreeForm SB last November

    Riding in the FreeForm SB last November

    It was just starting to get dark, so I just brushed her saddle area and tacked up. She looked a bit confused, but went along with it. Once I mounted up, she was confused no longer and stepped right out. I pretty much let her choose the way, which meant that we followed the local gravel roads, visiting all the other horses in the neighborhood. She wanted to gait a few times, but I asked for a long walk instead. Walking is going to be good for both of us. The few months that I had ridden her last spring, she had lost her long walk. It was short a choppy instead. So this was really nice. I started to get a good feel of her back feet, something that’s been hard for me to tune into before. Short rides will be good for me too, as I am very out of shape!

    So now, with these walking rides, I will have a chance to break in my new Black Forest saddle and decide if it will work out for us. I do think that it puts me in a much better spot than the FreeForm did, so that’s a good start. I do wish that I could find a sheepskin seat for it. I suppose that it will get more comfortable with time, but for now, there are a couple of creases that would not do well on a longer ride.

    I flipped the photo from last November for a good comparison of where the saddles sit on Lily. I checked her today and she free lunged sound! I’ve been treating her legs with Sore No More and doing some massage on her back and haunches. This seems to help her comfort level. I hope that this first month of walking rides continues to go as well as the first one.

    Fast Luna

    May 112010
     

    Luna decided that she didn’t quite want to get caught straight off tonight and started tearing around the paddock at a full gallop. Instead of trying to catch her, I got my camera. Lily seems to be feeling quite a bit better too, as she joined in. And Monte, the Paso Fino next door, was enjoying showing off for Luna. He looks like a fairy tale horse. I’m going to have to spend some time taking photos of him alone one of these days.

    It’s very interesting watching Lily and Luna together. Lily is very much in charge of things. Luna tries to bluff her sometimes, but very quickly backs down. They seem to be a good match. I couldn’t really choose a small selection of photos, so the slide show is rather long. And if you make it to the end, I now know why the small water trough has dirty water in it…




    Luna was no problem to catch when the running was over. Lily has already become bonded to Luna. When I first took her into the barn out of sight, they were calling and calling to eachother. I brought her back out so that Lily could see her. Lily never left the fence line watching while I worked with Luna. I can see that I will need to work them independently. I’ve never had a herd bound horse before, so it’s something new for me to work on.

    I didn’t really have an agenda today. I groomed Luna, trimmed her feet and we had our first lunge session. She wasn’t too keen on doing full circles and would turn into face me. There were times when I was happy with a quarter of a circle and asked her to whoa. By the end, we had gotten a few circles each way, with me deciding when to stop. That was good and I called it quits.

    Luna is sweet and a bit jumpy yet. With time, I’m sure that she will settle in just fine. I’m really starting to like her. She is pretty sensible, when not scared by something and picks things up very fast. This will be fun…

    Luna taunting Monte

    Heading out...

    A new project

    May 092010
     


    I’ve traded Vinnie for Dove Tree’s Marcha de la Luna. Luna is an eight year old Spanish Mustang mare. She is well bred by Azul’s el Milagro el Asad and out of Unpa Kimimila Sanka Tanka, a Chato’s Shadow daughter. She had a foal by Paisano last summer and is now ready to move on to a new career as a riding horse. I’ve told Lily that she needs to help me train her. Lily’s quite good at working on my training projects in my absence.

    Vinnie is in a superb home at Tired Dog Ranch as Amy Jo’s riding horse. I know that they will do great things together!

    This is just what I need to keep me from being tempted to do anything with Lily right now. She needs the rest and I need a project. Luna and Lily know each other from a couple of summers ago when Luna was down to be bred to Paisano. The mares shared a paddock during that time. They became quite good friends. The also were together for a few months last summer at Tired Dog Ranch with their foals. Today, there was the normal squealing and posturing, mostly bluff though.

    I’ll be posting about her progress as the summer goes on. She has had some basic training as a youngster, but not much has been done with her in the past few years, so I’ll be starting from scratch. There is a possibility that she may be for sale in the future, but I’m also open the idea that she might be my next riding horse.

    The mares being mares

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