Kitty Love

February 28 2014

Who woulda thunk the big guy would be such a big softie?

Dudley seemed to love breathing on a soft fluffy cat as much as Audrey Hepburn loved being inhaled by a big warm horse nostril.

The Dude Meets Jenny Craig

Saturday February 22 2014

The Dude is starting a serious diet and workout plan.

For a while it wasn't possible to regulate his intake and exercise, so, naturally, he blossomed. In every direction.

These are NOT rippling muscles

 Rolls, I tell you.

 

LOTS of love handles

Tail fat deposits!

"Dude!" I say to him, every day. "You're FAT!"

Every day, he blinks at me, and sighs, I know, but I'm still handsome.

Gotta give him that.

Now his diet is restricted. Now he puts his time in the Fat Pen. Now he's started working out.

Today he took me out on a ride, maybe 4 1/2 miles, the furtherest he's been in, oh, several years, and he didn't have a heart attack doing it. He did get sweaty and foamy, but he had a good workout.

You can't see the sweat running down his face in this picture, but it's there!

I don't think he'll ever be as slim as a racehorse, say, like Stormy was in his racing days, but maybe The Dude will at least trim off some blubber on his Owyhee Jenny Craig plan.

Soul Deep in Horses: Vote on a Cover!

Thursday February 13 2014

Help me choose a cover for my book - win a copy of my book!

It's time to choose a cover for my upcoming memoir, Soul Deep in Horses: Memoir of an Equestrian Vagabond, due to be published April 1. 

Most of you know I'm also a horse photographer, and one of my photos will be the cover shot. 

I have narrowed the choices down somewhat to those pictured above and below. I have my own reasons for preferring certain covers, but it's often hard for a photographer to step back and view their own work objectively or artistically.

Which photo do you readers prefer on the book cover, and why? Which one grabs you? Which one works best with the title? Which one makes you want to yank the book off a shelf (or off Amazon), and plunge headfirst into the stories?

Please leave comments below, or you can email me privately with your comments to souldeepinhorses@gmail.com.

Results of this survey and how the photos ranked will be posted after March 1. From the pool of people who chose the photo that ultimately ends up on the cover, I'll randomly select a winner, to whom I'll send an autographed copy of my book. (I've asked the featured horses not to campaign on their own behalf.)

And sign up for The Equestrian Vagabond Dispatch, the twice-monthly newsletter from The Equestrian Vagabond for exclusive publishing updates and general brouhahas (who doesn't like a good brouhaha?):
http://eepurl.com/NbjPz

Doobie:


Dusting I


Gold Dust


Harry


Stormy Herd


Stormy Water I


Stormy Water V

Delirious

February 8 2014

We got a foot of snow. Maybe two feet. I'm so delirious I'm incapable of measuring properly.

Owyhee seized the snow it so desperately needed (the mountains are now estimated to be a whopping 40% of normal, up from a dismal 25%), and I wallowed and raptured like never before.

Stormy and his herd mates didn't seem to mind the unusual winter blast either. Neigh, they hardly noticed it.

Shiver Me Timbers

Tuesday February 4 2014

Just call me: Sick and Twisted.

I seem to be the only human being in Owyhee, and possibly on the entire planet, save a woman who moved to Alaska back in the late 1800's because she was hot all the time, who loves the cold.

There's been a whole lotta whinin' emails flying around here: "Wah! Wah! It's cold! I hate winter!" (Mind you, I just as loudly whine the polar opposite complaints in the summer!)



Just me alone, I was delighted to wake up to a surprise snow cover that snuck in overnight. I hiked up on the ridge in the morning, into a strong biting shivering wind that blurred my eyes with frozen tears and numbed my ears, as cold air seared my lungs with every breath. It was magnificent.

All over the place, I found that snow angels had flown in and glorified the beauty and delights of winter.


The horses didn't seem to mind a bit either. So, the angels and the horses and me, we are charmingly sick and twisted.

The Candelabra

Friday January 31 2014

We pass through the Candelabra Gate when we ride up onto the northwest flats. I've never even asked why there is a candelabra perched on that gate. It must have been perched there by the guy who owns the property (and never has lived here). I like to think he had a sense of humor.

Mother Nature in winter not only has a sense of humor, but an exquisite artistic flare. While hoar frost in itself is a fascinating minor miracle, the 2-inch long hoar frost shards that Mother Nature sculpted on the Candelabra (particularly on the western sides) during the weeks of freezing fog was absolutely spectacular.

Two Breaths

Friday January 24 2014

Fog and ice.

Five friends.

One magnificent endurance horse.

Ahead: The Rainbow Bridge

A last bucket of oats. An offering for the after-life: his worn, oversized Easyboots, carrots, a sprinkling of oats, an apple. The last pets. The last whispered goodbyes.

A gentle easing of the way to the bridge.

Two final, easy, deep breaths of life on this earth before starting on his way.

Farewell, my old friend Rhett.

May your size 2.5 hoof prints be too big to fill
May your tail always wave like a flag in the air
May your snorts always alert your herd
May you always be hard to catch
May you hold them all in awe of your mighty GO in the next life as you did us in this one.
May we ride you again on the other side


Jaziret Bey Musc: Too Much Horse
http://merritravels.endurance.net/2013/07/jaziret-bey-musc-too-much-horse.html

Who's The Boss
http://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2008/11/whos-boss.html

Our Newest Owyhee Celebrity
http://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2011/09/our-newest-owyhee-celebrity.html