Takes My Breath Away

Wednesday December 12 2012

Stormy, my 21-year-old retired Thoroughbred racehorse…

still turns my knees weak and simply takes my breath away.

[slide show here]

[gallery link]

https://picasaweb.google.com/TheEquestrianVagabond/MagnificentStormy121212

Winter Walkabout

Sunday December 9 2012

Through my open window, the soft sound of swishing snowflakes woke me in the night - our first real Owyhee snowfall of the winter! Half asleep, half giddy, I could not wait for daylight to come, to step out into a white winter blanket. The snort of a horse drifted on the still night. Ahh - what better sounds than snow falling at night and the comforting snort of the neighbor's horses?

A louder snort - WAIT - WHAT THE !?!? That's RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!!! Not right!!! 

And where there was one, there would be more - horses escaped from their paddock!

Amazing how quickly one can wake when there's Horse Trouble in the dark. I sprang out of bed, threw on clothes and coat, grabbed hat and gloves, and carefully stepped outside so as not to startle anyone. A black horse snorted again at me, and walked by me. I thought it was Smoky. There were indeed other forms out there, dark ones and and gray ones floating ghost-like above the white ground blanket - they were not supposed to be out here - how/where/when did they escape?? I could see a lot of dark prints in the snow - they'd been out here a while.

I hoofed it quickly to the barn and grabbed a bucket of oats. I made a quick loop by the green gate (closed, no sign of hoof prints) and around back to the white (non) electric fence over the road - no sign of hoof prints. I could not possibly see how the horses got out. 

I came back around to where the loose horses were scattered - Finneas made a beeline toward me and the feed tub in my hands - and I lured them all into Judy's (empty) pasture. Seven horses - half the herd! - and not the usual suspects (Jose and Mac). In fact, in this half-herd, I was looking at baby Luna and no mama Perry! No sign or sound of the other half of the herd. 

With opening and closing other gates and calling the strays, I led them into the small back pen, and reunited them with the rest of the herd, who was waiting along a fence in the big back pen. Then the whinnying started, the 'Hey there you are!' 'Where did you guys go?' and 'Mama! Oh now I realize I missed you! I'm so hungry!' calls.

Later in the morning, the neighbor emailed to say that the escaped horses had been over there - helped themselves to the hay there. Another neighbor later said she'd driven in before dawn and saw hoof prints on the road, and thought somebody was out riding awful early.

I spent half the day checking the fences (none down) and gates (none left open), looking for tracks, (couldn't tell where the snow tracks came from - they must have escaped before the snow started?) trying to figure out how/why only half the herd escaped, each scenario less likely than the next. A horse opened a gate with his teeth and closed it behind him and 6 other horses? 7 horses jumped a fence? 7 horses stepped under or stepped over a (not hot) electric fence, without leaving hoof prints, without a one getting tangled, including Rhett who wouldn't get near a white tape fence if there was a mountain of grain on the other side of it? One of us humans sleep-walked and let half the herd out? Magic?

The horses spent the rest of the day passed out in a sand pile and sleeping on their feet. 

Their Big Night Out  was exhausting.

Fierce

Friday December 7 2012

Jose is fierce in his play with Tex on the Owyhee front.

The Wicked Wind Whispers and Moans

 

Sunday December 2 2012

Roaring down from the Owyhee mountains, the wind howled through the canyon, launching tumbleweeds, blowing down trees, tossing trash cans and wheelbarrows, hurling sand and harrying the horses.

Some (Finneas) were irritated by it, 

but some (Jose) made lemonade from lemons by rolling and reveling in it and shaking up more dust 

and (Jose) dancing around and searching for and finding victims to play with 

(like Bodie above).

Smoochies!

Friday November 30 2012

Is it love?

Smooch!

Eyes closed!

Neck hickey?

We'll see Part II of this Smoochfest next.

Spirit Horses: White Horses

Wednesday November 28 2012

The white Spirit Horses have arrived! They're pearly white, some with a bit of gray, one a little pinto-flavored.

[slide show here]

(or gallery link: https://picasaweb.google.com/TheEquestrianVagabond/WhiteSpiritHorses112812 )

Each pin is one of a kind, handmade of clay, wire, beads, and yarns picked up from around the world. They shimmer different colors in different light, and you can bend the legs to stand straight, trot, gallop, or fly.

You can check out the pins, and other eclectic art from The Equestrian Vagabond studios - barbed wire broncos, Stormy the Horse greeting cards, and of course equine photography. Email me for info on photographic prints, but you can order any of the art, including the Spirit Pins, directly from this page:

http://theequestrianvagabond.com/ArtForSale.html

Outward Bound

Monday November 26 2012

What with the last two rides of the season in September and October, and the need to remove some downed barbed wire fencing, the Owyhee herd has been locked up the last couple of months on the lower acres. They got so used to it that they never even checked anymore if the green gate was open up the canyon.

But the rides are done, and the dangerous wire has been pulled up and hauled out, and this week they got to go up the canyon.

I don't need a halter and lead rope. I just walk to, and past, the herd hanging out at the two hay feeders, and I yell, "Come on boys!" and I swing my arm in a 'Come here' motion. They couldn't believe it at first - all heads perked up and eyes widened and ears pitched forward as they watched me walk up the pasture, listened to me holler "Come on boys and girls!" and motion with my arm. 

One horse took a step forward, then another horse moved forward, then the whole herd was moving as one after me, toward the green gate. They started jostling one another, then Rhett took the lead and trotted after me.


The rest followed, and they all marched after me as I opened the green gate and led them through.

They passed me by and headed outward, bound for the trails and creek and cheatgrass and space, the delights of the upper canyon.