Pinto — A Belated Introduction

First, I’d like to tell you about this very morning.  Robbie has gone back to work for the week and so I stepped out the front door alone, with a cup of green tea steeping in my hand, to tend all the critters which has become my favorite way to begin my days.  Halfway to the paddocks, the scent of the almond grove hit me and I felt dizzy with the pinkness of it.  I picked up an especially nice turkey feather from a patch of vibrant, reaching grass.  Up in the canopy of blossoms I could hear a storm of bees — the sound of them at work is symphonic, droning, drawn out, as though someone is pulling an infinite horsehair bow across a single string on a viola: endless, monotone, musical.  God save the bees.

All around I heard meadowlark, oriole, yellow-winged black bird, a pleasant chorus of waxwings, Canada goose and best of all, the chatter between the red-tailed hawks as they build their nest out in the windrow in our big hayfield.  Isn’t nest building such a marvelous mystery?  I see the birds carrying their branches, twine and twigs to their carefully selected locations and it occurs to me that perhaps, not long ago (in a geological sense), before industry, before we began to hire contractors and builders to put our homes together for us, we, too, carefully selected our branches and twigs and wove everything together with mud, sinew and horsehair to keep the weather out and our families in.

To add to that miraculous cacophony of wild birds, my own hens, ducks and turkeys were chattering about the day with each other as the kittens (who are now cats) rubbed circles around my ankles.  IT IS BEAUTIFUL HERE.  Spring always seems to burst wide open and then plummet off an invisible edge into summer.  I wish it would hang on just a little longer.  I especially wish those almond blossoms would last a little longer.  I want my whole life to be that hue.

Out in the pasture the horses were laying in the sun.  They stood as I approached and woofed all my pockets searching for carrots.  I had two so we stood there munching and touching until I haltered Duplicate and Resero decided to show me his exquisite majesty and gallop around the pasture for a good ten minutes.  I laughed aloud and encouraged him.  Everything is so fat and sassy here, it’s hard to not encourage the glad antics!  When I returned to halter Resero and take him to his paddock he galloped some more, putting on a beautiful show for me and I stood there in awe and watched him and spoke to him,

“Oh, but you are splendid.  You are the most splendid thing about this morning.”

When I finally put the halter on him I spent some time touching him and picking up his feet and then I lunged him a bit until he joined up with me and his eyes were soft and he dropped his head, sighed a relaxed sigh and stood there shining like a new penny in the bright sun.

In a few more weeks I’ll start my day the same way followed by picking some greens from the garden and switching off/on the irrigation lines in the hayfield before I go in for breakfast and ultimately, long and quiet hours in the studio.  I love this life we’ve made for ourselves.  I feel lucky I can say that about my life.

The Introduction:

We claimed for ourselves a second horse in early March, right around the time our WIFI broke and stayed broken for almost four weeks which is why this is a belated introduction.  But who cares about the WIFI, let me tell you about this boy.  This is The Duplicate (though I usually call him Hawk).  He’s a Tennessee Walking Horse and we are lucky to have him.  He’s five years old, smart, easy going, and somewhere between green broke and trained which makes him a fun project for Robbie and I!  Walking horses are gaited horses (their gait is called a running walk) though they need to develop their gait and the muscles required to gait, it doesn’t come as naturally to them as the gait does in a Peruvian Paso.  These horses can be clocked as fast as 20mph when in a fully extended running walk.  But the strength required to move like that needs to be developed so riding this fellow looks like dedication and patience right now.  I see such potential in him.  He’s going to be a great horse and I believe he’s a wonderful match for Robert.  Moreover, we’re wanting to use these horses for big game hunting trips and I think Duplicate will do fantastically in the mountains.  He’s so tall and strong and leggy!  What a beauty!

So there you have it.  Horses are like German Shorthaired Pointers or babies, if you’re going to have one, you might as well have two but three is a lot.

 

Comments

  1. Heidi Mireles says

    I read your words, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and imagined. Your right, that is a perfect start of the day. Thank you for the imaginary vision.

  2. Chris Moore says

    I love the petroglyph mark on Hawk and don’t like the name Duplicate. Love your post, I can almost breathe the clean, cold air!

    • That mark is actually a brand. 🙂 Hawk is short for Nighthawk and I think it suits him well in spirit and coloration. I don’t mind the name The Duplicate (and the “THE” is actually a part of his name) because it seems like a funny kind of name one would give a racehorse..and the story behind his name is that when he was born, Gayle exclaimed, “He’s an exact duplicate of his grandfather!”

      And so they named him The Duplicate.

      Maybe someday Robert and I will figure out his official call name.

  3. Nathalie Carles says

    Lovely post about a lovely life written by a lovey person who is happy.

  4. Both beautiful boys! Your farm is so lovely in the springtime

  5. Your horses are just gorgeous;) thank you for sharing,I enjoy reading your blog so much, thank you for being you🙌🏼💕

  6. I loved my horses in Wyoming. They carried me place I might never have gotten to otherwise. May yours be a blessing to you both.

  7. Sounds like the perfect kind of work day… I’ve not had much experience with gaited horses so I love following along and learning!