a few pictures from this summer

I'll be perfectly honest - I don't like uploading pictures. As a result, these aren't in any particular order but they are of this summer.

During a week when Lone Ram and Bighorn were both having day camps, Mylinda brought Doc over to introduce the Bighorn day camp kids to horses while we got soaking wet with our campers on the slip n' slide.

Part of the reason this summer was beyond sweet was getting to know the Bighorn staff. Left to right - Alex, Ruben and Skyler Stoner (otherwise known as "Stoner")

Alex, Jay and Kyle

Shadow and Dori modeling the Lone Ram staff t-shirts

(Me with JJ)

With Dusty, one of the Lone Ram horses.

Giving Nate a high five after successfully completing the high static course.

Rock climbing: Getting ready to scale the face of Crack 1.

The view from my house.

horses, guns, and God

I realize that I have been slacking in the blogging department. Forgive me. Computer time has been limited to checking my e-mail then scurrying off to the next thing, seldom even replying to said e-mails. Basically, my correspondence with the outside world has been limited, virtually to the point of nonexistent.

Lone Ram camps have been going well. They've been small, usually 2 to 4 campers, which with horses is a good thing. They learn more when they can have one on one teaching. Mylinda has been stepping back and giving her staffers more teaching responsibilities - I've taught two complete riding lessons on my own and we are usually there helping when she's the main teacher. We also teach the campers grooming, anatomy, horse behavior, how to tack up and untack, knot tying, take them hiking up to the cross for Thursday evening chapel (usually the best one of the week), bring them over to the Bighorn challenge course and swimming hole and rifle range, spend time with them talking and laughing, and of course feed the horses, clean up after the horses, and ride the horses in order to get their brains re-wired after a week with a beginner on their backs.

There's a funny thing about horses. They are not for sissies. They are 1200 lb animals with distinct personalities and minds of their own (having my hand splinted for a month was a healthy reminder of that fact) and the work never ceases. The work is hard, the muscles gained from that work are real, the sweat can raise a mighty stench and most of that lovely tan is actually dirt. And I love all of it. I love teaching people how to ride and I love teaching horses how to carry those riders. There is nothing so rewarding as getting on a tight horse and working through his issues, feeling him bend, flex then whoosh, feeling the tension draining from his body as he stretches, lifts his back and moves, really honestly moves over the ground. Poetry in motion movement, not just the dropping of one hoof after the other on the dirt. There is power, beauty like nothing else.

Teaching the rider is different. Dealing with personality on personality is a unique skill and this summer has made me very much appreciate the patience and the time my trainer has spent teaching me. I'll be perfectly blunt. People can be a challenge. Learning to love on them, teach them, encourage them, and be there all the time for them has not come easily. I feel like God is tearing me apart and rebuilding me from inside out. It hurts. It hurts really, really, stinkingly badly. But knowing that makes life easier. It makes it possible to take the pain and with it discover the joy of watching tears fade into laughter, complaints turn into "can we do that again?" and seeing skills improve, taking what I love and giving it to someone else. Bringing people into what I do and love is something new.

Welcome to my world.

there was an eagle

The Lone Ram staffers are straggling out of the deep oblivion of slumber at noon today, after a very full week of day camp. I, among the rest, was frequently up from 5:30 am to 11 pm, with only an hour to myself. That hour was usually spent trying to remove at least one layer of dirt.

I admit that yes, it was a hectic week. The day campers came at 8am, and left at 5:30. We finished feeding the horses at 6, our dinner at the BigHorn lodge was at 7, at 7:30 we were out tacking up again for the BigHorn groups coming at 8pm, and by 10, the horses were usually done working for the day and we were heading back to get ready to hit the sack.

But among the blur, there were highlights:

*When you are up at 5:30, the mountains are gorgeous. One morning there was a haze of mist in every indentation of the mountains. Soooooo lovely.

*A bald eagle flew over the pasture so low that I could hear the wind in it's wings. It was the first time I'd ever seen an eagle in flight and it left a deeper impression than I thought something like that could.

*There are monarch butterflies everywhere.

*On Wednesday a family came over to the ranch so that their special needs daughter could ride a horse. I was a sidewalker. She could only communicate via sign language and held my hand tightly the entire time. It was very cool to see the huge smile on her face as she grew comfortable and so excited about it. Horses are amazing creatures.