The Entrance for our Ranch here in Oregon

I just wanted to post a picture of our entrance. The metal mustang on the fence was a gift from several very special horsewomen in Sacramento. The big wheel was a gift from my sister in Upland, California. The Wagon Wheel symbolizes to me a continuum of spirit between earth's nature and man's history intertwined with horses. Horses were used by man to pull our belongings, to fight our wars, to carry us to new places. The domesticated horse has never had it so good as they do now, and I hope we never return them to the abused beast of burden that they were in the past. No matter what we do as humans we are governed by the laws of nature. And here at Elkhead Farms, we honor the beauty and spirit and truth of the earth. Our appreciation and many blessings to our friends, family and all spirits.

Today I got dumped on my head!

I got a new horse. For my husband, mind you. A very nice even tempered breeding stock paint. His name is Reese. A gelding.. why do they still classify them as breeding stock? Isn't it more appropriate to call them "no color paint"? ..go figure. Anyway, he is a very nice guy. But still has alot to learn. Which, I guess, so do I since I fell on my head today.

It was my fault, not his. When I walk out into the pasture, the boys ( Reese and his pasture mate, JerryJeff) like to run all over the fields. They crash thru the woods and pop out and run down the hill. So when I rode him the first time thru those woods today, I thought he wanted to run down the hill......so I thought. First mistake. I decided to go with him..picturing us running down and away. So I did the one thing I tell every new rider NOT to do. I leaned forward. Second mistake. ( As my good friend, Kris asked " Didn't you see Snowy River??)

Well, he put his head down. My feet got behind me. He started crow-hopping and slowing down... downhill. Me, I just kept going forward cuz now I was leaning downhill and with his head so far far down there, I was now riding his neck. I hung on to his neck the best I could, and flipped over on my back and landed BAMM!! square on my back and head... so very lucky. The spongy pasture was pretty resilient, he didn't step on me and no serious damage ensued. (But I expect I'll be feeling it tomorrow.)(Yes folks, I was wearing my helmet..and glad I did!)

** Just an added note **
Thinking back on this I'm not young and bouncy like I usta be. I think as we get older the earth acts like a huge magnet and we just thud right on down to the ground and stay there. Stuck. Unable to move. Jeez.
** **

Reese calmed right down and looked at me like "What an idiot you are. What exactly would you call that maneuver?". After a breather, and making sure my brain wasn't rattling around in my skull, and there were no broken bones, I got back on and we tackled that downhill again.

Needless to say, I kept my feet under me, he kept his head up and a lesson was learned by both today.

The Send Off

I am never going to put an animal "to sleep" again. From now on, when the time comes for a humane ending to their life on earth, I am going to "send them off to the spirit world" to start a new life in a better, more beautiful place. I am going to throw their spirit out into the sky as far as they will fly. Surely, this imagery will help cope with the pain of my loss and give their soul wings.

No more "Now"

Take out the “now” in your asking. My horse will do anything I ask him as long as I take as long as needed to keep the horse calm, trusting and willing. Remember, the horse has no agenda, only we do. Kindness goes a really long way. Be fair. Its only between you and him. There needs to be understanding on both your sides. Show him the correct answer to your question. A gentle cajole with small progresses. Take what he gives you. Ignore the wrong responses. Don't fight with him. Reward and build. Be persistent and consistent but don't try to get it all done at once . Be happy with him. You will be surprised how quickly it all goes when you take the "now" out of your training.

Gifted with extensions of the senses...

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artiface, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete. Gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not bretheren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth."

Henry Beston-The Outermost House

Those of us that share our life with an animal will not find this concept odd. We find ourselves opening our minds and souls to the intuitiveness and intelligence of our fellow creatures, listening to their wisdom, expanding our perceptions, appreciating their being and reveling their divine nature.