My Indian Pony

WASHASHE

* "People of the Middle Waters"

or otherwise known as :" OSAGE" tribe~

The other day, I spied a feather on the path. The mare stood nicely  on our sunset ride, while I took interest in the beauty .

With certain delight, I dismounted to claim the prize!

I have always been drawn to feathers, and find myself treating finding them, as special.

I "Google'd"- "Finding a feather on your path", and discovered that there are MANY thoughts on the subject ranging from;  "you are on the right path","you posses wisdom, for you are on a higher spiritual path" (weather you accept it or not). I chuckled at reading that one.

"Finding a feather on one's path is a sign of encouragement, as you philosophically travel this path".

Also, different colors can mean very different things. 

Some liken the finding of a feather on the path you take as: " the spiritual realm telling you, that Angels are near, and ready to assist you".

I associate feathers with my OSAGE heritage. A symbol of being apart of an Indian tribe. Washashe's Dam  was registered as "Me Osage" and her stable name was "Feather". 

Indian Chiefs wore Feathers to symbolize  their communication with Spirit.

Some other explanations claimed: " You are eating too many chickens, and are turning into one!" "Finding a feather on your path means-"NOTHING!"

All I know is, I have a collection of feathers that the mare and me have happened upon, some blue, some white, black, grey and this one; white with certain black stripes! I do think it's a tail feather from a hawk.

The day  we found the feather, I was investigating a trail used recently by a large group of organised riders. The trail was  now certainly "TOAST", and I had gotten off. It became pretty dicey and hazardous to ride through , certain parts.  A large metal cable was strewn through a section and I removed it, as well as some other debris that could damage legs and pasturns . Some of the mud holes were literally- knee deep.

 I was taking the photo below, the larger version of the top shot. I cropped it above, so as to show off the feather in Wa's forelock.

I have NOT TAKEN this route for some 6 weeks or so...it was bad  enough before the large group of riders. 

As I was standing there, I thought I heard -what my brain said was - the road and a large truck coming closer. In the 30 seconds I pondered weather or not it was a truck, and the fact I didn't think I had ever heard the road from there before....I REALIZED- The loud humming was actually a "Buzzing", and it was below us, and getting really, really LOUD! 

We were so outa there...running, me on foot and the mare behind me! Though I didn't see one bee, or the mare act like she knew they were there, I THANKED God, for the sparing of us such a terrible thing, as getting attacked by a swarm!

Reading through the different "finding a feather on your path" descriptions of meaning; this definitely falls under the category for "Angels being nearby, and  ready to assist!"

WHEW***

Safely home again, my Indian Pony and me are HAPPY and SOUND!

We will be riding with our wonderful feather, in the future too!

The Best Fantasy

Always looking to see what's out there

With a title like that...some may think I will be revealing something.

Nope- That is just the Registered name for my sister's mare, aka- "Pantz". 

She is a definite Lead mare , has had several foals. The last one grew to be over 16 hands. His name is Nickers.

My sister had lost her beautiful "St. Timothy" TB she evented with. He was near 30 and she had so many wonderful memories.

St. Timothy

 It was early in 2003, she still had  the green Washashe, but had recently met up with a group that did competitive "Drill Team" riding.  Desperate to ride,  with no place to do it at the Oregon coast where she lived, she joined the drill team group. She was offered Pantz to learn the drill patterns on. Eventually ride in events. "Emerald Rein" drill team was very successful and my sister enjoyed the competition of it.

drill team 

 They traveled all over to compete and when they were close, I went and was her groom and cool out gal. Pantz Knew the drills... litterally, when the whistle blew, she'd do a flying lead change of direction!

 To this day, I have to be careful if I blow my safety whistle on the trails!

move day recently to "Two's A Team" stable

Pantz mare has a definite opinion, and if you are not her leader, shell walk all over you.

You must earn her respect gently, and sometimes over and over...but NEVER by force, or she'll distrust you. She came from an abusive cowboy dude- that beat her with a broom handle and she always is suspect, when you clean her stall. Sometimes pinning her ears. I just tell her, " no fear, I'm looking out for you", and rub her withers with my hands, if she gets that look.

 If you are anthropomorphic about horses, this mare Pantz, will most likely set you back a notch. Her last barn caregiver did not like her unfortunately. They had a run in or two that we heard about -with some expletives  sprinkled on top of the story.

 It's just NEVER nice to have to trust someone, that dislikes your horse!

  GOOD NEWS- Pantz now is somewhere that the folks do seem to appreciate her. The last several times I have gone to see her, someone -new to me- that met her said, " I sure like this mare, she's a sweetheart!" The owner also told me how much she likes her, days after she moved back in.  

*** sigh of contentment...did you hear it??

And yes, she has been here before, years ago when I boarded here as well. The owner literally MADE a spot for Pantz, due to my sister's private facility at the Oregon coast selling and there was NO-Where-else to go  at the coast. Similar to how we came to moving her again now...owner quitting and selling, No-Where else  to go acceptable for quality care. Maybe there was someplace around?? But bad business practices kept them from bothering to call us back.  We found that to be so unprofessional, at least tell us, " we do such a good job, sorry, there are no openings"!

lovely  new electronic gate with stable name

So, now she is settling. My sissy and I have ridden together a few more times, I have picked Pantz up and trailered  out to ride as well. 

She is such a great little mare. My sister says, " she 19 or 20"...for like, the past 3 years. I think that makes her about 22 or 23!

 (Find her papers sis!)

This mare will do just about anything for you...Pony a green horse across a creek for his first time....

ponying Certo

Walk or swim in a mountain lake....

Go out to sea...

Climb a mountain for the view....

Or, ride into the sunset.

One thing is for certain, this was the best $1.00 my sister ever spent! Yea, you read that right, she practically inherited the mare!

Pantz is best friends with Washashe mare, and we have boarded  them together, when possible, in the past. They love each other and have shared several great years.

Winter mares, sharing a blustery day together...

 Romping in a favorite field in the summer ...

Hanging out for a bite in the shade....

Pantz Mare, I adore you and I am so happy that your horsemom, my sister, is so generous to share you with me!

Horse love is so special, they give us all they can , allow us to see and experience nature in themselves and also from the view of being with them- in it. 

How blessed we are to have them be so accepting and giving to us...

Go hug your horsey, I know I am gonna kiss and hug mine soon, and Pantz Mare too!!!

Summer Rain

Our rides have been kissed by heavy laden branches of moisture.


The air pregnant with a rain feeling, 65 degrees with a slight breeze. 
For Oregon, the humidity foreign, breezes make it bearable. Thunder storms have riddled our area.


Dressed in short sleeves, it is comfortable. The mare in her usual attire, we both get soaked! Wet drops  from all surrounding greenery were cold at first, but then welcome, as the drenching droplets land upon ears, legs, shoulders and face. 


Happy that I chose this trail to take out to start with; as we had time to dry on the more open lands of the ride, later.


Fresh was the air, but these trails showed signs of heavy usage since the last time we rode. A herd of folks must have come upon this area, in the last 2 days. That was confirmed to me, once I returned from this slippery ride. 
Trailers in the masses, had been seen in a parking area nearby.


Somewhere else we shall choose to ride, till this moist trend ceases for a few weeks, giving the local trails time to mend and dry.
***************************************************
Pantz was welcomed back to "Two's A Team" facility recently. The move was good and she seemed to remember the place.
 Now, maybe we can settle her into a nice routine for a few years...this moving every year ( last 3) because owners selling and quitting- is for the birds!


Enjoying a romp and roll in the recently upgraded round pen, she always takes such long looks about!

L*O*V*E is - this smartly done area. 

The coarse sand is 3-5 inches deep, very easy to walk/trot in and "corralled" by a nice  boards, making it last without waste. 

Once the move day was over and Pantz got rested,

my sissy and I took the Horses for a wonderful 

"Independence Day ride".

 After all the hard work and emotional stresses, the ride truly made the difference!

All ears

Refreshed again!

Tee he he!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE Times to you and yours!!

Found Joy

Me 3 and mother holding Bunny TB grade mare- who taught the whole fam to ride!

While visiting my mother yesterday, she handed me a huge folder of photos....
I couldn't believe my eyes when I found this one.It was that photo I already have of me sitting on my sister's first saddle! But this one is NOT torn away, it shows my gleeful mother holding Bunny, my sister's first horse. I LOVE this photo!!!


That mare taught so many boys and girls how to ride! 3 of us girls in the Brown family. She was a school horse at the Lake Oswego Hunt Club after we learned, till she retired in her 20's and lived to be 30.


My fondest memory of how well she taught was the time a jumping specialist came to clinic the Pony Clubbers. I was about 11 or 12. They set up 3 in a row jumps, and we jumped them firstly regular.
 I am not sure of the correct term  for the set up of jumps, but there seemed to be one bounce in between them. It really was pop-pop-pop -over them, to the end.


Then we jumped them stirrup less. THEN- we jumped them with our arms out to the side! It truly was like flying on Bunny mare...she would jump anything you set in front of her..and high too!


I found so many other great photos from the 30's and 40' and 50's 60's and 70's of my mother riding various horses and some of my mother and sister riding too. I'll save those for a later time...'Cause I really just wanted to share this gem to my heart. 


I asked mom about the bridle configuration..it seemed strange with the brown band w Western ear cut out too. She had gotten that brow band from someone that made it. A Boondoggle.


Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me!

Recalibrate the mind

Into the woods we went, the horses were calm and the breeze was flowing across our faces~

my sister's 5th ride to health on a new knee

I had to hold my mare back from "self loading herself" into the trailer, as my sister tethered her mare, Pantz, into the top stall.

Horses and humans were ready for this day-scape away time.

On the road, we timed the drive to our favorite riding spot...only 28 minutes from stables driveway, to wooded bliss! 

These trails are vast and the last 2 times I have come to ride them, NO-ONE was around, save some mountain biker dudes that were having such a great time, just like us!

The Horses heard them coming, as we were unmounted and resting in the shade.

They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

Little did we know, as we looked over photos we took that day sitting at dinner later,  that this above shot would CRACK US UP to tears!!!

 My sister and our mares were captivated by the mountain bikers brakes, making an unusual noise in the woods.

 I showed her the shot, she exclaimed, " They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!" OH!!!

 It may have been the beer and wine we were having, or the hilarious memory of THIS YOU TUBE. Whatever it was...the day and the dinner time laughs, were JUST what any doctor would have ordered for the both of us, for health and happiness.

You see, my sister had txt'd me the day before; she was forlorn with some circumstances of life. She asked the question of me, " will you have some time to ride in the next 3 days?"

HA! Does a fish swim?

After my sis drove up from the coast, we went out to see Pantz  the first eve she was in town. We lunged her with the  TTouch Balance wrap and massaged her before and after with "Sore-No-More".

We also went out to my sister's NEXT boarding facility to confirm where she will be moving Pantz soon, before her current place is sold. It's a place we both have boarded before, from one of the -NICEST people on planet earth- I have ever met! This BO took my sis in years ago, when her  Private boarding facility in Newport, Oregon sold and she couldn't find a facility. She made a place at her facility for Pantz- last minute.... putting pea gravel in the paddock of an unused stall.  Since I was boarding there already, it involved me doing the stalls and my sis, when she was in town. It was work, but it was a nice place and somewhere for Pantz. So that is another breath of relief coming to us. We went and looked over what area again she'll be in and got a bale of her next hay. It is far richer than the current Grass and Timothy she normally eats, so a 20 day window of acclimation time should be good.

We surely will miss this outdoor arena with pea gravel /sand footing!

After a nice little ride in the arena with Pantz, we looked forward to the next day of trails, and the two mares seeing each other again!

We arrived to our destination and were already hungry, having gotten a later start, with no rushing, so we all had a little bite. I had made us all lunch.

Again, no one around at this fabulous place...we had it to ourselves!

 We traipsed around the trails that were new to us...most of them are!

My sissy caught us coming up the trail behind her..how nice to have some photos of the mare and me.

La de da...we stroll along the trails happily!

Lovely day in the woods with a breezy coolness to them. Revived again we all were. 

Watching the only one around disappear into the woods~

Perfectly named, "Fern Creek Trail", took us delightfully down to our road homeward

Once we made it to the top of the original hill from the parking lot, we both dismounted and walked back together with the mares.

Home again, after dropping Pantz off firstly, my mare enjoyed her Black Beauty company for a late afternoon graze. She watched as I bid her Adieu from the truck~

Happy Summertimes are finally here!!!

Breezy bliss

clear cut trail/replanted view

June's arrival has been very pleasant with a heavenly- warm- breeze flowing most days. It made the sultry and heavy air of rain on the way- on a sunshine day, easier to take. I'm not one for muggy, sticky air. Oregon does not usually have that, but sometimes it does come to us too. You just have to think... "this is cleansing somehow" as you sweat and are miserable.

The mare and me have been laying low and just taking little jaunts about the local country side, going across the street to forestry lands. I have rediscovered the immense beauty of it, that I first saw 4 years ago, when I solo trailer-ed to a managed forest gate. I took a chance by parking, and just rode what I found.

It's really beautiful!

I am amazed by stumps of the "trees of yore" along this set of trails.

5 ft across stump

 They have got to have been hundreds of years old, before they were cut. You know the ones, with foot holds for the standing planks, sawed right into the large 5-6 foot across trunks. Sad...but true. It makes me ponder what this forest would have looked like before.

The  picture does not do the massive size justice...there are many larger than this one too.

I have been seeing so many other horsemen out and about in these woods. It is a destination for many. Just yesterday, I saw  3 horse trailers and wondered how many horse riders I would come across. We seem to know that they are there , LONG before they are aware of us...maybe it's because we are solo, and are not a jabbering away! We always hear them talking in the woods.

 I made sure to yield off to the side, as we came across the first duo women riders. I "you who'd"-  as they approached, they thanked me and went on their  way.....not far behind them was another set of women riders. As they passed ,they gave pause to notice my mare and comment on how cute she was ( I agreed!) . One of them asked if I rode Dressage.  They were Western riders with rather large saddles and bits. I am sure the lack of equipment on my mare, bareback saddle and snaffle, helmet, made them ponder us. I answered, 

" yes, but I ride "Trailsage" out here, at present." They thought that funny.

 I do try to keep a dressage focus by asking my mare to do many elements of it, out on the trails.

Below is a very long, fairly straight trail, that is good for many a "Trailsage" practice; the free walk perfection, the hand gallop , lateral moves,

 and just a few days ago,we worked on flying changes.

When we reach the top of this trail, because of the sloppy nature of the wooded trails with all our rains, I must ride the road a bit. The many trails in this area are shaded and very soupy- muddy still.

With the Trailsage I have been practicing with the mare all these months(years really), I have paid special attention to her long, low frame. The mare is connected to me by holding my hands.When I ask for collection, I make sure she is not braced, but relaxed. I know I have the right frame by her snorting. She'll blow out as in acknowledgement. It's quite cute.

Her Trapezius and Rhomboid muscles are fabulous!

 My Equine body worker impressed me years ago to develop the correct muscles, you have to do the correct work. We were looking a a lovely "school master" mare at the time...and wowsa, her neck was impressive! Wa mare has those muscles, and has for some time. A nice difference from the yew neck of traveling inverted, and above the bit.

Returning to the soft footing of a clear cut trail , she relaxes again. I am waiting for her replacement "RENEGADE" hoof boot for her hinds . Then we may travel the roads and rockier places of riding . For now, it's keep to the softer places so as not to bruise her. And after her latest trim and removal of bars, she is tender a bit. I am so happy Shannon  at, "It's Quarters for me", posted about that last month. I had been noticing her bars folding into her sole. When I mentioned it to my bare foot trimmers, they surprisingly thought nothing of it. I found someone to address it  recently, as her hooves are so HARD...I was unable to manage the knife to do it- without hurting myself!

Back to the soft trail...

Up we go...soft clear cut trail winds around stumps and new trees

The bit of sunny weather we had for these rides I took, made the Yellow of the Scotch Broom blaze bright.....

...and the honey bees were certainly a buzzing! Every time we would pass the bushes the mare tensed up somewhat, with the "buzzing humm" nearby.

We came to the top of this  newer clear cut trail to find...BUZZZZZING galore! 

Honey Bee hives!

I actually had to duck this day, as we traveled away from the loudly buzzing and busy hives. The bees were traveling above our road about eye level, and I could see them coming!

home stretch roads

While we are vanquished from the nicer trails below our stable, due to logging and other such...these roads are what we have, with some  wooded trails in between. Of course, unless we trailer away. But most days, we are staying close to home.

The breezes blow through our hair as we settle into a nice 5 mile loop. It takes us an hour, we are leisurely in our times, no rush! Content are we , the mare and me~