Butterflies and All

Mostly more of the same around here.  Riding, camping, working, etc...  I'll get to the bigger stuff in a minute.

Orion is not the smartest trail dog, by the way, but hopefully he'll figure it out.

We finally got to ride the 7ish mile loop that the cattleman's association people told us about.  Well, kind of.  We got a little lost.  I NEVER get lost.  I shouldn't have looked at the map.  We bushwhacked our way back to the trail.  No biggie.

John is looking good.  He weighs as much (little) now as he did in high school. I don't lose weight like he does.  I've only lost 30 pounds.  But that's not nothing!  My keto/paleo lifestyle change has done him good.  Although he doesn't follow my diet, he eats a lot better than he used to.

We found the hidden lake in the middle of nowhere.  The cow people said, "It's nothing special, and you have to go off the trail a ways to find it." I thought it was pretty special, with a heron and a bald eagle, hundreds of darting and diving swallows, and the magical smell of water on a hot, dry day.

I love Buster's new to us saddle.  Don't get me wrong, I love the EZ Fit too, but it rolled on him when I mounted and dismounted.  No withers.  It doesn't do that on the horses.  This mule and donkey saddle holds itself in place so I don't have to look for a special place to try to mount my 14 hand donkey!

Best view in the world!

Pictures loaded out of order. This is the view of the other side of the levee that holds the lake in place.  See what I mean?  Dry and hot.  And a handsome horse!  I love how Sawyer likes to take in the view from a height.  (I wonder why someone made a lake out in the middle of nowhere.  Fire control?  Aesthetics?  Haha, yeah right.  Mining?  Watering stock?  The cattle didn't seem to water at this end, anyway.)

Again the pictures are all out of order, but this is momentous!  Buster's first trail ride!  This is the 2 mile mark where we took a break.  He deserved it, he did great!!!!  No horse here, this guy was no drama, no boogeymen.  We encountered cattle and I think we were right next to a moose, but we couldn't see it in the densely treed creek bottom.

Here's John checking on us.  Buster wasn't completely relaxed, mostly because of that dumb puppy!  Orion was either right behind or right in front of us, causing a lot of exasperation.  Buster bumped up his butt to give a few warning kicks a few times.  He was nice enough not to stomp on him or even step on him, which I thought was a little too nice.  Maybe he needs to get stepped on.

The only time we had any trouble was when we tried riding in front of Scout.  He was afraid to have Scout behind him, and the puppy was annoying, and I think there was a third irritant at the same time, maybe a bee.  Anyway, I pulled him around in a circle and we went back to our previous order.  He doesn't have to do everything on the first ride.

This was the night before.  Gorgeous.

Wonderful donkey in the sunset.

Buster is only 10 years old.  Donkeys can live to be 40.  Can they be rideable that long?  I don't know.  Can I ride that long?  Will I even live that long?  Will he?  I don't know.  Will I ever need another riding animal?  I'm just tickled at the thought of having such a safe and sane and loving partner for the long foreseeable future.

Halla has been getting some attention too.  At some point I either need to sell her or start riding her again.  Either way I need to start riding her again.  I can't sell her as she sits.

The time off has been good for her, she seems more comfortable in her skin.  She's very loving.  Gosh, I do really enjoy her.

It helps that she's pretty.  Juniper too, of course.  

So last night I went ahead and mounted up, butterflies and all, and we had a little ride for the first time since she spooked and bolted and I came off and got my most recent concussion.  It went fine!  She did a lot of walking with her head low, yawning and yawning.  I think she was letting go of some butterflies too.  And I think she likes the treeless saddle.

This is going to seem extraneous, but last night I had a dream that I was trying to board a plane in New Orleans (I often go there in dreams - used to live there) with a raggedy blanket and 3 dirty pillows in my left arm and a halter and lead in my gimpy right hand.  There was a really weird, dangerous step to get on the plane and my right arm couldn't raise up because of my bad shoulder, but I slowly crept my fingers to pull my arm up there, and I managed to make the jump, but I dropped the comfort items.  Kept a hold of the halter though! 

I think it's significant.  Hang on to your halter!  Don't let loose your horse dreams!  Not always comfortable and cush and soft, and sometimes you lose what has been so comforting that you didn't even realize how old and dirty it was.  And then I was like, "Oh well, it was expendable, no biggie, it's too hot here for blankets anyway."

But then I remember that it's my head that's not expendable, and I know I have to be careful.  But I'm really glad we made this step, Halla and I.  And I think we'll continue, one way or another, for a while or more.  She is the light that encircles the moon on a magical night, after all.  I hung a big expectation on her.  I should help her live up to it.  Or maybe that expectation is an old dirty, raggedy blanket to be tossed aside.  Maybe see what happens without expectation.  It's not her responsibility to be my dream come true, she's just a horse.  We hang so much weight of love, hope, magic, and dreams on our horses.  I can't believe they put up with us.  But they do, and that right there is magic.