The Rider

You know those moments in good movies
 when the hero races up a hill on his magnificent steed
 and then pauses at the top to look at the camera,
 all heroic and awesome;
 the horse arches its neck and holds its tail like a banner?

Yeah. I had one of those. On my beautiful roan. Life is good.

I like leadmares

I'm not gonna lie. I'd much rather ride a leadmare than a follower. Tonight cinched it.

I've been having a rough time with Roanie lately, I'm not going to lie about that either. She's been... oh I don't know, teenager-ish. You know, the typical rebellious, my-way-or-the-highway business, which is weird because she's eight. years. old. Supposedly a mature adult. But then again she's always been a bit of a filly.
 I'm getting a little frustrated, which is probably why I'm writing this at ten o'clock at night. The thing that gets me is that she's behaving worse than last year. Last summer we really turned a corner; we were getting over being skittish 24/7, our leadership skills improved... And now all she wants is her way. I feel like a parent who wishes they could give their kid a good spankin'.
 I hope this is just a faze.

Tonight I decided to mix it up a bit and left Roanie Fat Pony {It's ridiculous. She's looks like she swallowed a barrel.} in the pen and grabbed Shyanne out for a good ride in our neighbor's big pasture. What a wonderful feeling not to have to anticipate what might make your horse blow up! It was so nice to ride for pleasure and not bother with circles and exercises. And aside from one instance where she tried to buck me off, Shyanne was fantastic. I think she must be mellowing in her old age :)
  Shybaby {my pet name for her when she's sweet. If she's mean I call her Cow.} is also a leadmare so I got blaze on ahead. She warn't afraid o' no boogies. Leadmares have that nice quality, whereas followers tend to get stressed and jumpy when forced to lead or be alone.

 So all in all, a lovely evening. Oh, tomorrow I'll get on ol Roanie again when the flies aren't so bad, and we'll see if we can get things worked out. But for now, all I can say is: Thank God for horses and sanity. It's just too bad they don't always stick together ;)

-Gwyn

Ah, the joys of Summer...

I love summer. Period.

 The bright, sunny mornings when everything is so fresh and new.
 The hot afternoons when you've finished work for the day and can sit in the shade of a tall, leafy ash, a good book nestled in your hands{current read: The Looking Glass Wars} and your favorite dog leaning against your legs.

But my favorite time is the long evenings and brilliant sunsets. My time to ride.
  Lately my friend Jacque{formerly CC} has been up at her grandparents, my neighbors, and we've gotten to ride together a lot. Or should I say adventuring? We go up the gullies and down through the trees, Jake, Jacque's horse, often finding the lowest branches to walk under, much to her dismay.
 Roanie's spooking problem is gradually getting better. She used to dance-out and lurch at the slightest rustle in the bushes, but since we've been riding with Jacque and Jake, I've made her lead, something she is not accustomed to. It's been interesting to say the least :P With monsters lurking in that sagebrush, or just over the hill. The wildlife has boomed up there in the pasture too, adding to the experience. So far I've seen two foxes{probably they have a litter of pups together :)}, a band of young buck whitetails, a stray antelope, a coyote, a hawk family with a giant nest, a huge "friendly" owl that took a swoop at us and freaked Roanie out the rest of the ride, a badger, a skunk loping weirdly up the valley, and countless cottontail bunnies and jack rabbits.

The sunset last night was fantastic, I only regret that I had no working camera to capture it. Describing it with words is impossible. But the colors.... Fiery orange, purest gold lining, shining white, soft, muted pinks, and cool river blue...

I can't help being thankful for the place GOD has planted me. It's just so perfect and complete.

What is your special time and place? What does a beautiful sunset mean to you?

-Gwyn

I have a new favorite horse

Roanie my pink pony!
   Last year I rode her for the first time last year when she was still pretty green. I worked with her some last summer but mainly focussed on Shyanne. But this year Roanie has really come into her own! I rode her yesterday and I had the best time..! We worked on circles, pivots{she can't yet do full spins, but she can do halves left and right}, leads{we need to work on her right lead more till she's comfortable switching}, backing{she's getting really fast!}, and sidestepping/side passes. It is sooo nice to have a horse that likes to work again! Shyanne, while a nice horse, doesn't like performing very well. She stiffens up and crow hops around when asked to do more than trot while around strange horses. Roanie is nice and loose and obeys quickly. She's not perfect {but she's still awesome :)}.  She's still young and has a habit of tossing her head when bored, frustrated, or excited, often resulting in the reins flipping over her head. Not good when you're at a gallop 8/ And when you saddle her and tighten her girth her acts like its her first time and stretches out and hops around like a two year old. I have no idea why, and neither does anyone else. I'm guessing just habit? I've pretty much crossed out pain and discomfort. *shrugs*
 

 Well, my sister wants to barrow Newton{my computer} so I shall bid good night to you all :)

~Gwyn

My afternoon ride....:)

"There comes a point in every rider's life when he wonders if it's all worth it. Then one look at the horse, and he realizes - it is." - Kelly Stewart 

This quote pretty much sums up the way I was feeling today; I was feeling down in the dumps because I my math score wasn't what I wanted. 

 I'll say right now that I am a perfectionist and a problem solver. One of the worst feelings in the world to me is failure, with the worst being helplessness.

But, I also loath being unhappy, so I went to my tried and true way of solving all my troubles: Riding. What else? :D 

I also like photography, so, feeling artsy too, I brought the camera along for the ride. And, in a way, I brought you too:)

I rode in our "neighbor's" pasture today because it has a lot more places I haven't discovered in full yet.

Going down a hill and into the old riverbed, long dried up.

A yecka plant

Over the old dam

Shyanne smelling the pine needles

Up on the hills, our neighbors have pine trees, which are rare this far north.

You can see in this pic that the brood mares have stomped and eaten any grass that was under the tree at one time into oblivion

A dead tree, torn apart by time and weather. And curious foals.

The drinking pond. I fixed it up in iPhoto to give it a vintage look.

Big sky country.

For some reason I really like this shot. I'm not quite sure if it's the colors or what... 

But you can also see my purity ring I've mentioned a few times; its a christian fish<><

I like this shot as well.

A fox or badger den. Maybe even a skunk lair. (:l

Leaves I played with on iPhoto

Rocks. :P

There's nothing so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse. - Ronald Reagan