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November 3, 2024
The sun's last rays fled in front of mountain shadows, and the wind blew, strong and cold. The girls had never found the wildies from the comfort of the Pavement Queen. But it was worth a try. "Stop, stop!" Skye could have sworn she saw something move. But perhaps it was just the wind, playing tricks on her eyes. They stopped on the flat where just a few days ago they'd seen Petrichor and Highlander's bands, together, and with the new mare joining Petrichor's harem. But today, there were no horses. Only silence, and then wind, and then silence again. November 4 The wind kept the girls indoors. Skye looked at images that she's saved on the iPad, and tried to piece together the ever-changing dynamic of the wild horses. "Grace, how many wild horses are there now?" Grace paused. "More than I have fingers. Maybe more than I have fingers and toes." "Let's count them. Petrichor had...the bay mare, Thorn, two foals. That's four. Five horses total for Petrichor. Highlander is now two mares, one foal...that's four counting him." "Nine. Keep going, I'll keep count" Grace said. "Ugh. Storm and Rain Man. The Newcomer. And the black or grulla mare and foal." "Fourteen" Grace counted. "Okay, now the new horses" Sky continued. "Lumpy and her filly." "Sixteen." "And that pinto..." "What pinto? Oh that pinto! The tovero...or whatever he is. We only saw him once huh?" "Yup." "Shoot. Where were we. Seventeen." "The roan mare with Storm." "I wonder how that ever shook out" Grace said. "Eighteen. Is that it?" "No! There's the new mare that showed up with Petrichor." "Nineteen" Grace said. "And we totally forgot Crazy and his band. Two mares, three foals, including him that's twenty five." "And one more mare. That big bay mare that gave him the slip out on the cut. Remember that?" "Twenty six. Wow. Okay, ready for a slightly different topic?" Skye smiled. "Sure." "NaMoPaiMo" Grace said. She set the pewter foal in front of Skye and picked up the rather heavy pewter mare. "I don't know" Skye said. "I think I'd rather do something life-size." "Well, we've got a couple of months to think about it." November 10 The winds had blown the sand from the outdoor arenas, exposing bare mineral soil and gravel. They would need to be completely refilled with sand. Grace and Skye, armed with shovels and a wheelbarrow, surveyed the damage. "I don't have it" Grace said. "What?" "I can't do this tonight. We need a tractor. A back hoe. Something. I don't have it in me to do this kind of shoveling. And then the wind comes up again and blows it all away. Forget it." Grace was right. November was notoriously windy. Maybe waiting would be better. So in the day's last light they followed the gaze of the domestic horses to the southeast instead. Tendrils of light retreated before them as the sun set. The girls climbed up on a smooth outcropping across from Mustang Rock, immersed in evening shadows. "I shoulda brought the camera" Skye lamented. In the very last rays of daylight, Rain Man and Storm argued on a ridge. Their bodies were well apart. Clearly they were postering, not going to war. The moon was already high in the sky. The mountains to the east captured the last glowing rays of sunlight, making the scene even more dramatic. Birds of all kinds were settling down for the night. California Quail flew past the girls with a burst of sound, then settled on the ground and ran into the thick cover of the forest. The roan mare was still with Storm. It appeared that Storm and Rain Man had established a suitable hierarchy, at least for now. Returning to his harem, Storm's colors blended into the granite and the landscape as the light faded. Rain Man rode shotgun on the mares. Soon the horses slipped away into the shadows of nightfall. November 16 Real clouds. Few things without hooves were more pleasing to Grace. She left the comfort of the Pavement Queen to take a look around, pulling on her coat against the cold wind. The change in seasons was rarely slow and subtle. Today was late autumn through and through. Skye hopped out, felt the wind, changed her mind. "Those clouds are gorgeous" Skye said, "and I can see 'em pretty good from inside the truck, so that's where I'm gonna stay." In the indoor arena, Owadan used the whole of the indoor arena to stretch his considerable legs. It was chilly in the arena, but at least there was shelter for the wind. "I have questions" Skye said. "Okay..." "Show horses. The serious show horses, you see them in winter and they're all slick, no winter coat...how is that possible?" "By blanketing" Grace said. "And I think maybe keeping them in covered stalls, out of the elements. And you want to know what's wild about that?" "Sure..." "I was reading up on horses growing winter coats, and what breeds get robust coats and which ones don't. And the article talked about how it's not climate that determines a horse's winter coat, it's the length of daylight hours. As the days get shorter, animals get the cue to start growing whatever winter protection they need. But the fact that you can lock a horse in a stall without sunlight and keep it warm to prevent it from growing a winter coat proves that the daylight hours theory isn't absolutely right." Next in the arena was Mateo, the Spanish Riding Horse stallion. After a long and arduous spell of trying to figure out how to present him, the boss decided to go with the common "breed" name rather than call out the bloodlines used in the recreation of the historical breed. Whether or not that would help him garner respect in a halter class wasn't yet clear. Mateo was always a little unsettling. Skye and Grace had to call their dogs to their side. "I'm surprised this one is still here" Skye said. "Me too" Grace answered. "I thought the boss would have sold him by now. He's kind of a hand full, and she's not crazy about having difficult horses." "He's sure pretty though." The next horse in the arena was also lovely, and a bit easier to handle. "So show horses...the real nice ones... are they always in their stalls or do they get exercised?" "They have to get out...I'm not sure how you keep them all perfect all the time, but they'd have to get out. Otherwise they'd have no condition." The last two horses of the day made their way around the arena. The petite Fjord mare was determined to keep up with the much larger Welsh cob gelding. Skye laughed as she watched them lap the arena. "She's gonna get frustrated and bite him in the butt!" The girls braved the cooling air as they put the cob and the Fjord back in their stalls. The last moments of light bathed the mountain in a deep crimson glow. November 23, dawn At first light the eastern sky was clear, but to the west thin tendrils of clouds sped over the landscape. Skye watched them, fascinated. The sunrise was glorious on the shades of autumn all around. To the west the sky had quickly darkened. And then in moments the sun was folded into the mass of clouds. An hour or so later, a soft drizzle began to fall; a mist, barely enough to be called rain. The girls sat in the Pavement Queen, watching the landscape take on the gentle moisture. "This is gonna be perfect for the boss's thing tomorrow huh?" "Yup" Grace answered. "Just enough." The boss's "thing" was a holiday gathering and work party. There would be some experimental planting of deer grass plugs. Deer grass is a very hardy native grass, but also slow growing and not an aggressive propagator from seed. The boss was interested in seeing if it could be successfully transplanted "in the wild", as it was common to do when the grass was used in garden applications. In theory, at least, the locally harvested plugs of grass would survive transplanting, and begin growing anew in the spring. Then it was tine to get about the business of turning out horses. Anoush, Lousin and Anahit joined Grace and Skye in the arena as they turned out the big pinto sport horse with the odd name of "Lefty." "He is beautiful" Anoush commented. "But what we really want to know, have you seen Rain Man, the mustang we freed?" "We have!" Skye answered enthusiastically. "We saw him....about a week ago. He's back with Storm, and Storm has a little harem of mares, although they don't look terribly happy to be with him, and Rain Man was with them!" Grace listened, watching the big pinto, making sure he kept a safe distance from everyone. "That's fantastic news" Anoush said. "I am wondering...I think the girls may have mentioned to you that I work with special needs and disadvantaged children." "They did in fact" Grace said. "I'm wondering if we can set up a visit with them. Not riding or anything like that. And perhaps not even until after the holidays. But a sort of...special vacation." The next horse to turn out was the gelding with the roached mane that came home from evacuation with the rest of the horses. More Grace and Skye's kind of horse. His arrival was no accident. The boss bought him, a distress sale, from someone whose property had not been unscathed by the fire. Grace was distracted, watching the calm and rather effortless movement of the chestnut. She wasn't sure if the boss intended to keep him, but he was nice. Balanced. "What kinds of activities were you thinking of for your kids?" Grace asked Anoush. "I'd like to give them a sort of special play day. Maybe find a space where they could really run around and let their imaginations be free and not feel restricted. Perhaps a space that we could use for an afternoon, and bring toys and activities for them." The tack room was Grace's thought. It would be easy enough to clear it out and make it into a play space for an afternoon. Anahit, Lousin, Anoush, Grace and Skye visited the tack room to view the space in that light. "Didn't you have a lot more saddle stands?" Anoush asked. "We did. I mean we do" Skye explained. They aren't back yet. When we evacuated the horses, the boss took a bunch of stuff and put it in storage. It's not all back yet. It's kind of a mess, really. We're missing five saddle stands and...who knows what else. It'll all come back. It's just...things still aren't all the way back to normal yet." November 26 The rain came softly as the girls came up the mountain in the Pavement Queen. Grace liked to let the tiny beads of water cover the windshield entirely before she used the wipers. Skye delighted in her antics and always stretched for a few more seconds. Four sections of pipe stall, two blankets, four saddle stands. Skye had used linseed oil on the wooden stands, so the water was no cause for concern. It was a relief to be bringing home the last few items that had left in the evacuation. "I still think we're missing a saddle stand" Skye said. "And I have no idea where the other four blankets are, but I know we have at least six blankets." "Maybe the other four never left" Grace responded. "And maybe the other saddle stand is around here somewhere. I'm pretty sure this is the last load." "I can't believe everything is still on the truck!" "I told you girl. I got this. It ain't my first rodeo." #
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October 2, 2024
White clouds danced across a blue sky. Strawberry Peak looked majestic in the afternoon sun. Chilao wore a cloud hat, keeping the temperature just above 90 degrees. The winds had come, leaving the arenas full of tree debris. "At least there's still some sand" Skye said. "Yeah, plenty of sand left, thank goodness. Let's just pick up the big stuff and throw it off to the side." There were horses coming home. Two trailers. The boss had been bringing horses back two at a time, but when the big stock trailers came, they needed room to unload the horses and get things sorted. The big strawberry roan shire was first to unload. "Do you remember this one's name?" Skye called out. There was a long pause before Grace answered. "It should be something like Strawberries and Cream." Skye laughed. "I can't remember his name either." Next came the palomino Friesian cross, Dream Boat. One of Grace's beloved golden boys. Next, three mares, a filly and two geldings. All in good shape. And then, much to Skye's relief, the second of the pair of grulla geldings. "Thank goodness you're back. This one is Sandstone" Skye said. A non-equine resident came off the trailer next, which was a bit of a surprise. Toro Toro Taxi. "Where's his cat? Mojo?" Skye asked. "Cats are coming back this weekend" Grace replied. "They'll be busy too. While the cats were away, the mice did play." "Is that it?" Skye asked. Grace thought she heard a horse still in the trailer. Two horses. Moose, the big, colorful Morgan cross, was next, and he looked quite fit... like perhaps he might have gained some weight. Finally, Rembrandt, the Pintabian stallion. Full of himself, as always. "Do you think the boss would do it all again?" Skye was full of questions. "Do what again?" "Voluntary evacuation." "Probably." "But this has been like a major ordeal." "I think..." Grace paused for a long moment before finishing her thought. "I think she might have waited if she'd had a better understanding of how well planned out the evacuation regions and warnings were for us on this side of the forest. She saw the fire blow up from four thousand to forty thousand acres and she kind of fixated on that. That, and the fact that the fire made it to Wrightwood in that same burst of growth. And they had almost no warning. So I get it. And yeah, I think she would do it again. Because imagine getting it wrong. Imagine not getting the horses out when you could have." Skye nodded. She didn't really want to imagine that. October 7 The sun wasn't yet over the mountain as the trailer pulled in. The biggest one yet. "This is it" Grace said. "This is the last of them." Cali Girl, the Araloosa filly, trotted about, fit and lovely. They gave her a few minutes to work out the kinks before taking her to her stall. Technicolor Lederhosen, the big Noriker cross cold blood. He looked great. Not the set of spots Skye was looking for though. Her gelding Mista Spot was still among the not-yet-home. Jesse, another one of Grace's golden stallions, was glad to be out of the trailer. He needed a few moments to burn off some steam before they put him up. "How many horses are left?" Skye asked. "Four? I'm not sure. But we need to get Jesse put up pretty quick and get the rest of them." An appaloosa filly came next. She was cute, but unfamiliar. "Who is this?" Skye asked. "Beats me" Grace answered. "What if we got the wrong appaloosa?" "What?" "What if we got her instead of Spot? What if our horses got mixed up?" "Oh..." Grace paused. "There's still a few more horses on the trailer. Don't panic yet." "Where will we put her?" "Is there room next to Deer Medicine? If there is let's put her there." Mischief and Precious were next. For a moment Skye stopped worrying about Mista Spot, and ran around with Mischief, who seemed glad to be back home. Then the big medicine hat drum horse. A hay burner if ever one lived. "Did he gain weight?" Skye asked. Grace laughed. "Looks like it, huh? He didn't lose any, that's for sure." Then, spry and collected, JM's Fabulous Flash, the bay Morgan gelding that the boss adored. He was retired, but still quite fit. "Gosh he's pretty" Skye remarked. B'zou, the Andalusian stallion, came out of the trailer rather unsettled. "He looks like he's...seen a ghost." "He does" Grace agreed. "Is he the last one?" The girls listened. The trailer was silent. No stomping, no whinnying. Skye's heart sank. And then the wrangler's voice. "Where do want the last one?" It was Skye's gelding, Mista Spot. The final evacuee to come home. As the trailers pulled away and the sun rose, another hot day unfolded on the mountain. October 13 Dawn came lovely. The girls were out walking while the horses finished their breakfast. They followed Baron and Hobo, who seemed to be keen on something to the west of the ranch. The dogs led them to something curious on the ground, partially concealed among the rocks. "Is this ours?" Skye asked. "No" Grace answered. "Not that I'm aware of." It was something like snow fence, only brown and made of fibers rather than plastic. The posts were rough-hewn rounds. The wood was unfamiliar. What do you think it's for?" Skye asked. "Making a fence. But for what, that's the question. Did the boss mention wanting to do some gardening in the middle of nowhere? Or maybe cultivating native plants? That's the only way I could imagine this is ours. " "She never said a word to me about anything like that" Skye said. "What should we do with it?" "Let's leave it for right now. Just how it is. And let's come back in a day or two and see if it gets moved and where to." The day was busy. Skye's black quarter horse mare had somehow managed to get herself scraped up inside of her stall. Exactly how, Skye couldn't figure. "She seems fine" Skye said to Grace. "She'll probably just had some white hairs going in where she's scratched" Grace reassured Skye. "Do you want to see if we can find the comet?" "Comet? Like in the sky? Sure. You know, that's what we should name her." Comet? Comets are balls of ice. Generally white." "She has a white sock..." "I thought we named her Skye's Black Beauty?" "Yeah, but I like comet..." The girls took the pavement queen to the helipad just at dark. The moon grew ever brighter as the sky darkened. They searched the horizon line. Apparently the comet, which had a long and funny name, was only briefly visible, low on the horizon, and because of the moon phase, even more difficult to see. And then there it was. The night was still, and silent, and beautiful. The girls took in the amazing celestial show...all too quickly swallowed by the mountain. October 19 Grace drove the Jeep as carefully as possible across the rugged terrain. Five passengers was a lot. The three youngest ladies had to stand up behind the seats. "Oh sorry!" Skye's elbow and Anoush's helmet were having a hard time staying separated. The wind was subsiding, but not without a few final vicious gusts. So the girls...all of them...opted for the Jeep rather than riding or walking. There was a roaring sound that was not the wind. The helicopter swooped in fast, directly above them. Spun around and headed back toward them. Made another pass directly over them, at high speed. "Grace is there something you need to tell us?" Anoush teased. "It's SCE" Skye said. "I betcha. They're checking the power lines. Pretty soon they'll turn the power back on if everything's good." The helicopter sped away. The girls left the Jeep at the base of the monolith. Skye led the way up the rock face. There were hand holds and foot holds. The granite had a rough enough surface to be navigable. Not Grace's favorite thing in the world to do, but if everyone else was doing it... They reached the top. Stared quietly out across the rocky habitat that stretched below them. Listened. Watched. A hummingbird made a rather daring pass at Anahit. Behind them in the chaparral, bluebirds were making a fuss with their deceivingly soft and gentle voices. But there was no sign of horses. After a few minutes, Grace broke the silence. "Let's head back to the Jeep. There's another place we need to go." Grace had a hunch she knew what the roll of fence material she and Skye had come upon a week ago was for. And her hunch was right. In a crevice between two great pillars of stone, they found the fencing, propped across both ends of the narrow passage. Stirred up dust met sunlight as they approached. The sound of hooves moving uneasily. They had found their missing mustang. Skye turned to Anahit and Lousin. "That's Rain Man" she whispered. "Rain Man and Storm were the first wild horses we ever saw." Rain Man had been captured in that narrow passage between two steep walls of rock. The mesh fencing was layered to give it enough height to hold him in. If he'd charged the fence, it would probably collapse, and he would be free. But he didn't. He moved nervously back and forth, in and out of the shadows, rearing, spinning, rearing again. The girls watched in stunned silence. Even suspecting as she did that someone was hoping to catch a wildie, Grace needed a moment to get her bearings. "Should we let him loose?" Skye finally asked. Anoush answered in what Grace liked to think of as her mom voice. It was level, firm and unwavering. "Yes. This fence will collapse rather quickly if we remove the poles that are laid diagonally across the others first. The fence has no weight, we'll just need to quickly pull it aside." Skye looked at Grace. Grace nodded. Everyone got to work. Anoush and Grace held the stallion back with little more than waving arms. Lousin, Skye and Anahit made short work of dismantling the fence and rolling it to the side. Rain Man was ready to take his freedom. He made his break. A length of fence unfurled and rolled toward the stallion as he bolted. He slid to a stop, spooked and reared. For one terrifying moment the girls froze, pressed against the rock wall with nowhere to go. And then Rain Man lunged over the roll of fence, and away, a spray of dirt and pebbles pelting the girls as his hooves dug into the ground and propelled him back to freedom. October 21 As soon as the morning chores were done, the girls rode out, back to where Rain Man had been captured. They took the high road, coming around above the place where they had found him, just in case someone was there. All was quiet. There was nothing left of the enclosure. All the fencing was gone. A spot of green on the ground against the black ash-laden earth was all that remained...a bit of alfalfa hay. They looked all around. There were no hoof prints. "It's been swept clean" Skye whispered. "And I don't even see any broom marks." Grace studied the ground as they existed the rock crevice. Not even their own footprints remained. "Kind of creepy" Skye said in a low voice. "I feel like...I don't know." It took Grace a while to respond. "Yeah. Definitely creepy." October 26 Skye never got tired of of the evening light in the trees. Or the grass. Or on the rocks. Nor did Grace. But she was focused on looking for signs. Signs of the would-be horse catcher. Dani Girl, the appaloosa sport horse mare, was a lively ride. It had been a little while since they'd been off the ranch and on a trail ride. Skye looked at the dry grasses to their right. "This is mostly deer grass" Skye said. "And I know what we're supposed to understand about deer grass, but it's not looking too lively to me." Grace glanced to the right. She had a point. "If we got off and looked closer to the ground, close to the roots, we might find a little green at the base" Grace replied, but her answer wasn't terribly convincing. The girls took to higher ground, bringing their mounts down to a walk once they crested Mustang Rock. The view of the grass was not much more promising from their new vantage point. Spent yucca lay like bleaching bones on the dry grass. Textile tendrils slowly slipping back into the soil in a decomposition process that might take decades. "Well, we'll see how it goes. I know the boss wants to transplant a good little patch with deer grass, and I suspect we'll be helping with that at some point or another" Skye continued. "I mean, I know it comes back every year, I know all the things about it, and I know it transplants. I guess I just didn't expect it to look quite so dead after all the water we've had the last two winters." "Yeah but the heat" Grace reminded her. "It was hot. And no summer showers here at all. Once the rain and snow stopped, we went into summer. And it's still hot. And still dry." Skye had a lot of questions. The answers would reveal themselves over time, surely, but right now, looking at the landscape, it did seem unlikely that even the native grasses could keep their grip if it didn't rain soon. October 27 Petrichor and Highlander's bands traveled together, in close proximity to each other. And save for their footfalls on the rocky ground, they were silent. Grace and Skye stood still, watching the horses from a jagged rock outcropping. "They see us" Skye whispered. Grace was focused on Petrichor. His hooves sank deep into the dry ravel. He glanced their way briefly, as if acknowledging their presence, but his own focus was on his lead mare. Which way was she going? The sky was a mixture of clouds, and things that were not clouds. Grace hadn't said a word about it, but Skye knew. It was difficult to tell the one from the other now, but the dark layer moving toward them was a welcome respite from the heat. The sun broke through again, illuminating Highlander's band of brown and gold. Skye struggled to see another horse. Blue-black, and well integrated into Petrichor's small band. A mare, certainly. For a moment the horses circled in the clearing, uncertain. A single gunshot broke the silence. It was distant, perhaps two miles away. The bay mare changed her course, and the others followed. From the clearing there were a number of options, including going back the way they had come, up onto a ridgeline, or downward into a maze of rock outcroppings where the horses would sometimes take shelter from the wind. The bay mare would choose. Petrichor's band was in the lead today. The moment of indecision gave the girls a clear view of both Petrichor and the blue mare. She was big. And from her robust head to her low set tail, she exuded "mustang." And then, after what seemed like a long moment of indecision, the bay mare made her choice, and headed toward the rock maze. The other horses followed, maintaining their silence. "Thorn's coat looks dull" Skye whispered. "She used to look better." Grace nodded silently. Skye was correct. There was a sound. Soft. Then a few drops of rain. Just a few. Skye smiled. "It's a good sign" she whispered to Grace. "The little bit of rain. It's like everything will be okay. And now we know for sure that at least some of what is in the sky is clouds." "Yes" Grace whispered in agreement. "I think the horses are trying to find a quiet place to hide" she added. "I think you're right" Skye whispered. "Probably trapped here in the middle ground. Hunters above, hunters below...there's no water here so that's probably it." The bay mare picked her way across the rugged ground. Four mares, three foals and two stallions followed her. The girls watched until the horses had all slipped out of sight. # September 8, 2024
The morning was mercifully cooler than the previous days had been. The warmth was coming, to be sure, but it was a little slow to arrive, so the girls walked with The Black. She was noticeably slower in recent days. "See if you can get her out every day" Grace said. "It may help. Just a short walk, just to keep her joints lubricated. I know it's hard, seems like there's always so much going on." "That's really all we can do, isn't it?" "Yeah. And the day may come when she doesn't want to go out for a walk any more. She'll let you know." No one really knew how old The Black was. Maybe thirty, maybe older. One thing was certain, she'd gotten lots of love in the last little bit of that long life. The dawn had been made cooler by a mixture of smoke from the Line fire and a thin layer of clouds. Around 2 PM those clouds were gathering in earnest. Skye went out with her iPad, trying to capture the breadth of the incoming storm. Then came the thunder. She knew Grace wouldn't want her outside in the thunder. The grass was tinder dry and sharp. One more picture. Then Skye made her way back inside. And it was about that time that a new fire erupted. The Bridge fire, in the Angeles National Forest, on the Azusa side, near Highway 39. The girls would be blissfully unaware of it until later in the afternoon, when Tanner told the boss about the two very large columns that he did not think were clouds. Indeed, they weren't. They were the Line fire to the east and the Bridge fire to the southeast, both sending smoke miles into the sky. The Line fire had started on September 5 and was an arson fire. The arsonist was caught after lighting a number of other fires which were of lesser magnitude. The Bridge fire grew from four thousand acres to forty thousand acres in one day, making a run all the way across the forest from Azusa/Glendora to the mountain community of Wrightwood. The western edge of the community was losing homes to the fire. The USFS Grassy Hollow Visitor's Center was reduced to rubble as the fire roared up to and across the highway, entirely unchecked. Big Pines, aptly named for its tall timber, crowned; the trees were consumed by the flames. Mountain High ski resort burned again. The beautiful campgrounds and high country that the girls had visited in the Jeep in 2022 as they searched for the origin of the wild horses...once again shaped by fire. That evening, the boss decided to do a voluntary evacuation, taking as much artwork and as many horses as she could off the mountain. The horses would not be accepted at evacuation shelters, however, because those spaces were created for mandatory evacuees. So she brought them all the way out to a facility in Ventura County, until there simply wasn't room for any more horses. Grace and Skye stayed behind with the horses that remained. If there would be another wave of evacuations, they would need to be mandatory, so that horses could be brought to evacuation facilities. The Bridge Fire would quickly consume over 50,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest, running in much the way that the devastating Bobcat Fire did in 2020. That fire began on September 6 and burned 115,997 acres, running mostly unchecked from the Los Angeles basin side of the mountains to the high desert beyond Wrightwood, destroying the landmark Devils Punchbowl Visitor's Center, and obliterating much of the Station Fire's amazing recovery in the Chilao area. That had been Grace's introduction to Redbird Ranch; a month long mandatory evacuation in the brutal heat of that summer with no real assurance that there would be a ranch to come back to. It seemed clear now that the current Bridge fire was moving away from Chilao. With many less horses to care for, the girls enjoyed a little more free time to do what they loved the most, watching the wild horses. September 15 Skye sat down on the rough granite, and watched in silence. Eventually she turned to Grace. "I have no idea what's going on" Skye said. Below them, the big mare they called Lumpy and her filly appeared to be running away from Storm, the big, bay going grey stallion. Storm was distracted with another horse which the girls had never seen before, a scrappy bay roan. The new horses' legs and hooves were substantial, but the rest of it looked like a typical southwestern mustang. And the small roan horse didn't seem fond of Storm. "Can you see The Newcomer over towards the ranch?" Grace's gaze was focused toward the southeast. Skye was focused on what appeared to be complete chaos to the southwest. Storm had somehow amassed a small herd. But his aggressive style seemed unappreciated. "That's gotta be a mare" Skye said regarding the diminutive new horse, not exactly whispering. "Agreed" Grace replied. Both girls scanned the horizon for Rain Man. They had never seen Storm without Rain Man. But he was nowhere to be found. The girls moved closer, hoping for a better look. "Whoa!" Skye, unaccustomed to hiking in boots, found them a bit tricky. "That's a hat Skye, not a helmet. Careful!" Storm was relentless, following the small roan mare into the rocks, pushing her back down toward the flat. Even the local hummingbird seemed perplexed about the action taking place on the ground. The girls found a place to sit, closer to the horses but still out of harm's way, and still un-noticed. "I think this is the most uncomfortable rock I've ever sat on" Grace grumbled. "I think this is the most confusing scene I've ever watched unfold" Skye replied. "Or maybe these ladies just don't like getting bossed around so much." "Storm is a bit of a tyrant, isn't he? This is the first time we've ever seen him with mares and without Rain Man. He seems to have just one mode of operation, and it's pretty unsettling." The Newcomer and his small band held back, avoiding all of it. Back at the ranch in the afternoon, Grace and Skye turned horses out in the indoor arena. Gunner glowed beneath the arena lights. That is where Anoush, Anahit and Lousin found Grace and Skye, which seemed a bit odd on such a glorious day. But so did the relative quietness of the ranch itself. Most of the horse stalls were empty. "All the pipe corrals went with the horses" Skye explained. "Where are the horses?" Anoush asked. "Ventura County" Grace replied. "When the Bridge fire blew up on Tuesday, the boss decided to start moving horses. There were a couple of closer evacuation centers, but they wouldn't take animals unless they were coming out of evacuation zones, and we weren't under evacuation orders yet." "We still aren't under evacuation orders" Skye said. "But the boss didn't want to wait. Too many horses to wait to the last minute, she said." "Good thinking" Anoush said. "How did you choose which horses to take?" Grace and Skye looked at each other. Grace answered. "I think the idea was to get all of them, but there wasn't enough space for all of them at the place in Ventura, so we had to stop. So, a real mix of horses went." "Yeah, like all my horses except Ladyhawk are there" Skye interjected. "We actually brought Ladyhawk and La Barilla back! So some of the really rare and valuable horses went, some of the horses that were easy to load in the trailer went, The Black went...you know who didn't go? The roan mare, the draft-type mustang mare. She wouldn't load for anything. So that old girl is still here." "What will happen to the wild horses?" Anoush asked. Grace didn't hesitate to answer. "Where the Bridge fire is burning right now, we went looking for wild horses. Skye and I drove the whole of that country, except the part where the fire started, because we know there aren't any wild horses there. We covered everything from Blue Ridge to Lytle Creek and plenty of parts in between. We don't think there's any wild horses there. Right around here, this is the best country for them." "What's next? Anahit asked. "Are you going to move the rest of the horses?" "We're in a holding pattern" Skye answered. "Watching the fire reports, watching the weather, waiting." "And as far as I know we don't have anywhere to bring the rest of the horses to" Grace continued. "I mean, I'm sure the boss will find somewhere if she has to...I heard her mention something about Agua Dulce...but hopefully we won't have to do it." Back at home, the space was uncluttered for the first time in a very long time. "It feels so weird, everything being gone" Skye said. "Well, I mean, not everything, but all the artwork, the models, and Ginger Kitty and Butch and Lady and Vinnie and the pups..." The small animals had also been evacuated. "Yeah" Grace sighed. "It is weird. I have a lot more room on my bed, but it's weird. Hopefully this will all be over soon and everything can get back to normal. Then we can complain about having too many animals and not enough room again." September 21 Stock trailers began arriving just as the sun began to descend rapidly. The horses were returning from their evacuation stay in Ventura County. Grace watched the boss, moving each and every horse from the trailer to the pen as the handlers brought them out. Her hair was matted, her lips parched, her face flushed red with sunburn covered by dust. "You should take a break" Grace said to the boss. "Go up to the house and rest for a bit." "There's more horses coming" the boss replied. "Skye and I can handle it" Grace responded. "I'm fine" the boss said. "Go rest for a bit" Grace insisted. "You are setting a bad example of self care for Skye." The boss fell silent. When the mares were unloaded, she went up to the house without further argument, leaving Grace and Skye to put everyone back in their stalls before the next group of horses were unloaded. The Black made it. No one was sure how the old mare would fare on such a long trailer ride, but she made it. The second trailer came with several more mares. Everyone looked good. "Are all the horses coming back tonight?" Skye asked. "I don't think so" Grace replied. "I think the boss said most of them would be." Evening light shone glorious pink-red on the mountains. Skye imagined some day she might see a mountain lion slithering down the steep slope. Not that she necessarily wanted to see a mountain lion so close, but there was a game trail just behind the property, and all the wild things used it. They had barely gotten the mares put away when the third trailer pulled in. One of the big grulla geldings emerged. "Only one of the boys!" Skye exclaimed. "I'm not even sure if this is Granite or Sandstone. I think this is Granite...I wonder where the other one is..." "I'm sure he's fine" Grace said. "They probably loaded them up the same way we did...let's grab some mares...let's grab some geldings...let's grab whoever wants to get on the trailer...' Grace stared at a chestnut gelding with a roached mane and a brand. He eyed her back, ears swiveling, alert demeaner, taking in everything. "Who is this?" Grace asked. "What? Who is...ooooohh...who is that! I don't know!" "I think we got someone else's horse." "Oh no" Skye said. "What if other people are getting our horses?" "It's all right" Grace said. "It'll work out. We'll get everyone back." Relempago en la Pampa came out of the trailer as the final rays of sunlight turned intensely warm. "Is this the last one for tonight?" Skye asked. Her question was answered by the sound of another trailer coming up the drive. "I guess not..." Cloud Nine, the big Thoroughbred sport horse, retired now but still possessed of his regal nature. He was a little excited to be home. It took a few minutes before he was settled enough to bring back to his stall. Bramble, the boss's beloved draft mustang gelding. He was usually hungry, and tonight was no exception. He was ready to get bedded down for the evening. Last light came upon them. The last horse of the evening, the paint stallion Windy Boy. In their minds the girls ran through all of the horses that hadn't returned yet. Jesse, for instance. The other grulla gelding, the Vanner mare and foal. Windy Boy needed a few minutes to blow off some steam before they put him up for the evening. # August 4, 2024
Moving the horses across the tall grass cut wasn't ideal, but it was the only option the girls had on a Sunday in high summer. There was too much vehicle traffic on the campground roads. It was difficult to discern the footing. Skye chose to ride the little red pony, Mischief, because on the trail she was exceptionally sure-footed and level-headed. Grace rode Clay, the chestnut appaloosa. Anoush took out her favorite mare, Luna, and dealt with the too-short stirrup leathers most graciously. Anahit and Lousin rode Precious and Tex, respectively. The conversation moved from the heat, which at 5 PM was still 90 degrees in the shade, to wild horses. "Are they really wild?" Anoush asked. Lousin listened for the answer. "They are mustangs" Grace answered. Anoush did a low, modified post. She looked perfectly comfortable without using stirrups. "You have some pictures of them in your room" Anoush continued. "One of them looks like a draft horse." Birds were busy foraging in the evening light. "We call him Highlander" Grace said, "because he does appear to have some draft influence." "Are you able to approach them?" Anoush asked. Grace wasn't sure how she wanted to answer the question. "We have gotten fairly close to them on occasion" Grace finally replied. "But you know," she continued, "I'm usually riding La Barilla, or some other stallion, so I don't push my luck. Just seeing them from a distance is a thrill." Grace found herself reluctant to talk about Petrichor. Skye rode up more or less alongside Anoush, sensing the awkwardness in Grace's voice. "There's also a picture of two other wild horses on our wall" Skye volunteered. "Rain Man and Storm. Big bachelor stallions. Always going at it with each other. We've never gotten super close to those guys." "Then where did those pictures come from?" "The boss" Skye replied. "She likes to take pictures. Like, a LOT of pictures. " Grace watched Skye's old black mare. She was slowing down. A stand of thistle remained uncut, dry brown former flowers now brittle bundles of seed. Skye watched as a swallowtail butterfly moved purposefully through the mass of yellow-brown, and found a still-pink flower. August 10 There was no romance to riding the cut in the mid afternoon sun. The temperature had quietly climbed back up to 90 in the shade, but Grace and Skye had an excuse to ride, so they did. They had the day, the space, the world to themselves, at least for now. "I talked to the boss" Skye said, "about the wild horses and Anoush asking questions." "Yeah?" "I told her I was struggling with it. You know, like not wanting to share but feeling guilty. But really mostly not wanting to share." "And?" "She said a couple things that made me feel better. She said the day that girls don't want to see wild horses, our way of life and maybe even the planet is pretty much doomed. Which is kind of what Francis Loop Caldwell said back in the 1980s." "Excellent point." "She also said it's why she doesn't go with us to see the wildies....because it has become a sort of personal and private thing for us, I mean, we always share with her, but the experience...that's really become a sort of...almost a ritual for us. So, both realities are real." The girls rode out of the cut, past the ranch buildings, out onto the bluff that overlooked the campground and Chilao Road. A tiny, scruffy little bird filled the world with a cacophony of sound. "I feel like we always end up back here when we're looking for a camping spot." "It's a great spot" Grace responded. "And it's especially great right now with this breeze, and with shade." La Barilla was particularly animated. "Do you know what's going on this evening?" Skye wondered. "I guess some people are coming up to watch the meteor shower." "So we're setting up their camp?" "The boss's camp. She said she wanted to try taking pictures. We're welcome to join her." "That sounds like fun. Let's do it." As evening approached the girls traded their four legged mounts for the Pavement Queen, and a truckload of amenities. "This is the biggest tent I've ever seen in my life" Skye exclaimed. "How many tents have you seen in your life?" "Okay, well, there's that, but this is big." Grace smiled. "You know" Skye continued, "We'd see a lot more meteors if we just lay in the back of the truck." Skye was right. Grace paused for a moment. Then she carried on. "The boss said she wanted to try out the tent. Said she'd never used it. I guess it sets itself up. You lean it upright and pull that string and it pops up." "Oh cool! I can't wait to see that!" But opening the tent would have to wait a moment. As the temperature ever so slowly began to fall and the day's last light played on the landscape, a trailer arrived. Grace signed for the contents. A welsh cob gelding. He was active, glorious, golden. "Who is this?" Skye said with interest. "He's a mover!" "Don't get too attached to him" Grace said. "Welsh cobs aren't rare that I know of, and he's a gelding, so I can't imagine the boss plans on keeping him long." "Look at him go!" He had great action, he was well put together, and Skye couldn't help but imagine he would be fun to ride. "Where's he going?" Skye asked. "I mean, where are we going to put him?" "At the right now moment, nowhere" Grace replied. "I don't know where the boss wants to put him, so we'll just leave him here for now. Maybe get him some water. We don't have a lot of daylight left to get that tent set up." The tent slid off the truck easy enough. For its size, it was surprising light. A gentle breeze cooled the evening. The girls stood the tent upright, steadying it from two sides. "Can I pull the cord?" Skye asked. "Sure." The tent flew open, propelling itself off the ground and into the evening breeze, immediately rolling toward the gulley just below the camp site. But what a tent it was once the girls had secured it. Skye loved it. The dogs were a bit slower to accept it. The boss rolled in at dark, waving to the girls as she passed, seeing the tent, smiling a broad, excited smile. "It's going to be a great night for a meteor shower" Skye exclaimed. Setting moon, clear skies..." They would have to take a moment to get the new horse settled into a stall first. While the outdoor arena was well lit, they'd be needing to turn off the lights pretty soon to accommodate their star gazing party. They did see meteors, though nothing like 100 per hour as was predicted. The boss didn't catch any of them with her camera. But it was sure fun to try. August 11 Grace watched the boss photographing Shades of Jolie. Her love for the big, gentle mare was obvious. Photo after photo in the pleasant summer evening light. Grace wondered where Skye was. Lately the photo sessions were of special interest to her as she tried to learn the ropes with the camera the boss had given her. There was just enough time to get out one more horse, and she was all made up for her photo shoot. Another one of the boss's favorite big girls, Scottish Magpie. Shadows soon began to swallow the arena's light. The mare flicked her ears about, glanced around as she moved across the area, sensing something. Skye made her appearance, a rogue grand entry, thundering in on the new cob gelding. Obviously Skye knew she was interrupting a photo shoot. Obviously the boss must've given her permission to ride the new horse. Grace watched, silent. The mare stretched out her big trot. She looked pleased to have some company in the arena. "Kids" the boss said, smiling. "Whatcha gonna do." August 17 Sunlight crept across the landscape. Grace and Skye stood motionless. Among the rocks, sound echoed. It could be difficult to pinpoint the exact location of a horse, or horses, but the girls were quite certain there was one close by. Very close by. They waited. Impossible to tell exactly where the noises were coming from. They decided to keep moving. Their boots made tapping sounds on the rock, scuffle sounds in the loose gravel. There was a sudden burst of motion, sound, color. Skye jumped back. A flashy pinto stallion burst out in front of them, leaping over a pile of deadfall, scrambling out of sight in a few sure-footed steps. He was easy to follow, making plenty of sound as he galloped away from Mustang Rock, out into the clearing. He paused to assess the threat, reared up as if to challenge the girls, now that he was safely well away, and then disappeared into the forest. Back among the rocks, there was silence. First light moved across Chilao. Skye was looking at the side of the school and smiling as they walked back to the ranch. "What?" Grace asked. "Huh?" "What's going through your head? What are you looking at?" "Oh! That shadow of the tree on the side of the school. It's there every morning but I just never get tired of it. It's like a reminder every morning that we're here in the forest, and not somewhere else. And it's just particularly sort of magic, how crisp and well defined that shadow is. Just for a few minutes. Like a painting almost." Skye sighed, and smiled again. "That's all." August 25 There was still another month of summer, but shades of autumn were becoming evident. It was the first day off the girls had had in recent memory. They rode away from the cut, into the canyons above the northern boundary of the property. "So what is this ranch western pleasure class, and how come we never heard of it?" Skye asked. "I'm not sure how I'd never heard of it, I think it started as a recognized class in 2013. Ranch rail and ranch trail. Hang on, let me focus for a second." Grace and La Barilla navigated the rather steep and narrow passage that the mustangs often used in the summer. Most of it was easy to navigate, but this one section required attention and mutual trust. La Barilla placed his hooves carefully. "I think there's a lot of money in the more recognized western pleasure. Higher competition level. Whether I like it or not, a high level of training goes into those pleasure horses and there's a lot of money invested in their tack and the rider's appearance. Woops!" "Are you okay?" "Yup. The long reins are coming off the horn. I can fix it." "Would you ride in ranch rail or trail?" "Sure." "Would you ride La Barilla?" "I could, but he wouldn't place. He's an acquired taste, even for Spanish horse lovers. Way too active." "He's awful shiny today Grace." Grace smiled. "I put Show Sheen Golden Glow on him." "Could I ride in ranch rail or trail?" "You could" Grace said. "We'd need to get you a nice button down western shirt. And a hat that doesn't look like you're hunting alligators." Sky squealed with laughter. They had come to the vista hoping to see horses, but the landscape was quiet. The air was deliciously cool, the sun's light becoming a little less direct and harsh. Surely there would be more summer days to come. But right now today was as perfect as they could ask for. After all the trouble of reaching the vista point, they would have to turn around and leave the way they came. But they could take their time. They had all day. On the flat, they were reminded that although the weather was delicious and benign, they were still in Chilao, home of all the wild things. There was the track of what was likely a large rattlesnake in the sand, The horses became suddenly reactive as they crossed the flat. Grace thought she saw movement in the rocks above. She brought La Barilla around for another look. The mare's silhouette against the sky came into view. Highlander's dun mare. "Ladyhawk is all excited!" Skye said. And then she saw the colt. The dun mare's leggy, golden colt. He had followed a narrow path down the rock face. Too narrow for the dam to follow. The dun mare started after her colt, stopped, backed up. There was room for her hooves, but not her body. The rest of the way down form where the colt stood was steep. Not very long or high, but really quite steep. The mare tried another passage through the rocks. The colt started down, slow, uncertain. The mare found her way through. The dun mare arrived just as the colt reached the bottom of the rock face. He had stumbled and scraped his nose, but his long legs were uninjured and he'd stayed more or less on his feet. He'd survived what would likely be one of many encounters with the unforgiving landscape. Reunited, Highlander's band moved northward, deeper into the back country. Highlander spun around to make sure his band was not being followed. Grace and Skye stayed on the flat, content to watch from a distance as the herd vanished over the rock ridge and out of sight. August 30 Light was fading fast. Mustang Rock was swallowed in the shadows of dusk. They saw Thorn first. Skye scrambled to get a picture. Thorn moved off, back to Petrichor's orbit. The girls followed, staying low. Thorn had seen them. Skye focused on the bay mare in the fading light. She wasn't particularly concerned about the girls. Highlander's band was a little more uptight. "If I recall" Grace whispered, "the dun mare does not like Thorn. I think that's what all the tension is about." It was hard to pay attention to the behavioral dynamics of the two bands, and take pictures at the same time. Skye would try in the near-darkness to focus on a horse, then set the camera down and observe the bigger picture. Grace strained to get a good look at Petrichor. His visits were so infrequent lately. it was not long before both bands vanished into the shadows of the forest. Back at home, Grace and Skye poured over the images. Skye's pictures were a bit dark, but overall, any horse lover would have been thrilled to see what she had seen, and to come home with these memories. Skye frowned as she passed over image after dark image. "Here" Grace said. "Use this tool. Auto adjust." "Oh wow!" "Now you can still tweak the highlights and shadows manually if you want." "Oh wow!" Skye was pleased. Once corrected, Skye's pictures looked quite nice. Many of them were blurry, but the ones that came out in focus were worth the effort. "I love the light on this one" Grace said. Highlander. He was always active, and consequently a little hard to focus on in near darkness. Skye squealed with delight. She got a good shot of the dun mare. And her gangly young foal. "Dunalino!" Skye exclaimed. "Right?" "I think so" Grace responded. "A lot of dunalinos don't have pearly white manes and tails. I think you might be right. Here, let's zoom in on that one." And then, pictures of Petrichor. "Oh nice!" Grace said. "Did you get any close-ups of him?" "That old nag?" Skye giggled. "I don't know." There was a semi-close picture of Petrichor, but it wasn't quite perfect. "It's a little blurry" Skye said. "I like it" Grace replied. "Don't delete that one. It's moody." The next few images of Petrichor were very blurry, as another horse inspired Skye's attention. "Oh great, you focus on Thorn." Grace smiled, teasing. Sort of. "What do you suppose happened to her?" Skye asked. "What do you mean?" "Her face on her left side. There's no scars but it looks like something happened." Grace shook her head. "Hard to say." And then another picture of Petrichor. "Oh that's nice" Grace said. "Let's zoom in on his head." Grace stared for a long time. "I wonder what happened to his eye. There's no scarring around it...he's got plenty of other scratches and scuffs but nothing around the eye." "Oh I love this one" Grace said. "Don't change a thing." Highlander and the surrounding landscape, pink with dusk. "Zoom in on this one...nice...good job Skye." A close-up of Highlander, in perfect focus. It was a very satisfying photos shoot, and encounter with the wild ones. Skye could be pleased with her photographic work. # July 3, 2024 Summer had arrived, and with it, a rather large bear. In light of which, Grace thought a mule might make a good walking companion. Once the sun went down, the temperature dropped to a delicious 80 degrees. Wearing a generous cover of fly wipe, Tex and the girls looked southeast across Chilao. Chamise was in high bloom. The time of the yucca flower was over for good now. Skye heaved a deep sigh. "I am conflicted" she said. "Part of me wants to keep the wild horses our little secret, and the other part of me feels guilty and selfish." "I feel you" Grace said. "We've sort of had a private paradise for a while now. I'm not even sure I like knowing where they came from. Or probably came from. There was some magic to the mystery." "Right!" "Don't worry about it too much. Something will happen sooner or later, and it'll probably be completely out of our control, and we'll just deal with it the best way we can." July 7 The girls lay sprawled on their beds. Precious little else to do with the heat so all-pervasive. "It's starting to cool off" Skye mentioned. "How much?" "Two degrees" Skye replied. "We're back in two digits instead of three." For reasons the girls didn't completely understand, Chilao was actually hotter than the cities below, and the rest of the mountain. It had been 101 in the sun and 97 degrees in the shade for days. When they ventured outside, they found the evening sky was tinted with fire smoke. "You think it's close?" Grace asked. Skye thought about it for a moment. "No. I remember what close looks like. I think it's pretty far away. But if we come out tonight and see a red glow then we'll know I was wrong." The smoke drifted across the sky as the moon set. July 9 The girls went for a pre-dawn ride, Grace riding bareback on tha appaloosa mare Lochsha, and Skye on her beloved BLM mustang, Ladyhawk. The overnight temperatures had dipped just below 80. The morning, just before sunrise, was pleasant. And dry. "I don't think we'll need to worry too much about keeping the wildies a secret right now" Grace said. "I know there's water above us and there should be water below us, but not right around here." "I think you're right" Skye responded. "Maybe when this heat breaks we can go looking for them." For today, their ride would be short, as the rising sun would bring an end to the pleasantries. July 12 The skies grew ever more dramatic as the day cooled. Grace and Skye looked out across the western horizon. The clouds were a welcome sight. "Think we'll get any rain?" Skye asked. "I doubt it" Grace answered. "Seems like the thunderstorms are pretty fleeting, and fast moving. A few drops, a nice little cool down, and then they move on." July 13 Saturday morning came early. Skye's laptop was still playing the Breyerfest Friday evening show. She'd watched it over and over, curled up in bed around the screen. Grace couldn't tell if Skye was asleep or awake, but the dogs had chosen who they felt was most likely to turn them out, and feed them. Grace had spent the night watching Breyerfest rewinds too. The day dragged on, but at the last light, it was pleasant. Skye was bubbling with chatter as the girls took a walk to the back side of Mustang Rock. It had been their lucky spot lately for finding wild horses, although the chances dwindled as the heat wore on. "I want to try roman riding" Skye Said. " Those girls make it look so easy! And they are only eleven! Did you see the pads they used? It gave their feet some cushion, and the horse's back some cushion. And they had special shoes. Almost like ballet shoes. Once I saw them riding it all made sense." Grace saw something move. "And the trick riding rig where they stood up in the saddle? It was short just like the one you made. But the speed is what keeps you balanced. You lean way forward and the speed of the horse keeps you balanced, like riding into a strong wind..." Grace wasn't answering. Her gaze was focused on some shapes not too far away. The Newcomer and his mare and foal. Skye fell silent. Grace took a seat on the rock ledge next to her. The Newcomer was unruffled. Curious. He took a few steps towards them, trying to breathe in their scent, ears flicking back and forth as he watched them in the fading light. And then, calmly, he and his harem moved off. In a few more moments the sun would be down. The girls headed back to the ranch. Skye's enthusiasm for the trick riding idea was undaunted. They brought Sandstone and Granite down to the arena, the substantial grulla geldings that looked a bit like draft influence mustangs. "These guys are pretty big" Grace commented. "Are you sure you want to start with such tall horses?" "They're a matched pair, and they're gentle, and easy going. I think they'd be perfect." Skye explained. "Now if we could just figure out how...imagine if we could handle them like that Aussie, McLeod...total control at liberty..." "McLean. Guy McLean" Grace corrected. Grace held her mount still with slight hand pressure and Skye moved hers forward with a hand under his chin. The geldings watched their human handlers intently, waiting for their next cue. Their eyes were soft. They were big and they had a lot of movement going on, but Grace could see in them a willingness. It was a crazy scheme perhaps, but if Skye worked at it, she might just succeed. And she'd been trying to learn how to stand up on a horse for some time now. July 14 Big southern thunder woke the girls, the dogs, the horses. It was just light, perhaps 5:30 AM. Lightning punctuated the pink dawn sky, and the rolling thunder shook the forest awake. A mass of clouds moved swiftly overhead. Skye ran down the road, camera in hand, chasing the rainbow to Mustang Rock. A double rainbow, a faint bit of rain, the smell of petrichor as the sun rose. What a beautiful way to start the day. July 20 The indoor arena was full of chatter. Skye was curious about the dogs accompanying Anahit and Lousin. "The spaniel is Daisy. She is a certified therapy dog and mom usually has Daisy with her when she's working" Anahit explained. "Blossom isn't certified yet but she is a very good dog and she will pass her tests. We didn't know she was pregnant when we got her. She had just this one single pup. We call her Ada. She has the same odd head shape as Blossom. I think we'll be looking for a home for Ada." Anoush straddled the big spotted drafter. "He is so broad!" Anoush exclaimed. "What a great temperament he has. Very relaxed." "I think the boss said he's a a German Cold Blood and Noriker cross. Skye calls him a German Cold Cut. Technicolor Lederhosen is his actual name. We call him Tech. Or the big spotted teddy bear." The girls and dogs took a collective few steps back as Skye's Black Beauty loped by. The boss must've turned her out. Then Deer Medicine trotted past with her colt. Saddled. Skye was completely confused. She spun around to look at Grace. Grace was calm, her body language relaxed, her lips still. Skye turned back to look at Deer Medicine again. Saddled. Bridled. In a saddle she'd never seen before. Tooled. Stitched. Skye caught the smell of new leather. The saddle pad was familiar, but nothing else. The bosses' voice broke the now-silence in the arena. "Congratulations Skye. That's your saddle." The boss paused, but Skye didn't say anything, so she continued. "That's an Eagle Nest Ranch saddle. Brand new. There was a show in June we got invited to. Pretty sure I forgot to mention it to you." The buckskin mare slowed to a walk. "It was a Covid-style show. Online. Eagle Nest Ranch sponsored it. And that's an Eagle Nest Ranch rig, even the bridle." Silence. "Anyway, long story short, it was a winner take all affair. And you won Skye. You and Blackjack, the Cassie Black mule." Skye was still silent. "Now I know you aren't a saddle girl and I'm not forcing this one down your throat. I'm pretty sure Grace wouldn't mind taking it off your hands if you don't like it." Skye swung up into the saddle. Her feet just touched the stirrups. "We get you some proper boots and that'll be a perfect fit" Grace interjected. Skye had never met a saddle she really needed. But this one was a good fit. It squeaked of brand new leather. The tooling was amazing. The seat was comfortable. If she sat down deep, her feet found a little better traction in the stirrups. Skye still didn't know what to say. It was all a bit much to take in. Outside, the moon rise lit the still, clear night. Sounds wafted in from the campgrounds, and the darkness was parted. July 26 The girls were alone for the weekend. The feeding, cleaning, exercising...dogs, cats, horses...everything. They turned out groups of mares and geldings in the indoor arena. The horses needed the exercise, and the arena was a bit cooler than the great outdoors. Charmer was particularly energetic. No one had gotten out much in the long spell of heat. "Meet me back down here after everyone is put up" Grace called to Skye. "With or without a horse?" "Without a horse." "Your deer sold" Grace said, smiling. "Awesome! I'll get a wheelbarrow." "Can we just carry them?" Grace lifted the fawn. Took a few steps. Set it down. "Are those solid concrete or what?" "Some kind of ceramic" Skye answered. "Super heavy, huh?" "Yeah, no kidding. Wheelbarrow it is." July 28 Grace presented Skye with a pair of boots, albeit a bit apologetically. "They aren't fancy boots" Grace said, almost cautionary. "In fact they aren't even real leather. But they might give you just enough leg to keep your feet in the stirrups on your new saddle." Skye pulled on one boot. It fit well enough. The heel did make her one leg a bit longer than the other. Grace was right. There was a little bit of height with the sole and the heel. "Stand next to me" Skye said, reaching up with her chin. "I think I might be just a little bit taller. This might just work." "Do they feel okay on your feet?" "I think so. Let's go find out." For the first time in weeks, the weather was beautiful. The insects less prevalent. The air delicious. And as Sunday evening fell on the forest, it was quiet, save for the sound of birds. The horses became very alert. It was Crazy's band, minus Crazy. The lead mare that the girls called Lady Godiva was pushing the foals away from the conflict zone. The girls didn't recognize the bay horse that Crazy was engaging. Crazy seemed cautious. La Barilla was getting increasingly active underneath Grace. Skye looked at her saddle, rig, looked at Grace's. "Your breast collar needs adjusting" Skye said softly. Grace looked. "So it does" she replied in a quiet tone. "I don't want to do it right now..." "Oh come on" Skye teased, "what could possibly go wrong?" After pushing the foals away a bit, Lady Godiva paused to watch Crazy and the bay. Skye thought perhaps it was a mare. A pretty big mare. And not taking any guff from Crazy. While the dynamics of wild horse behavior has been the topic of so much observation, and the girls tried to learn what they could from other people's images and observations, they were rarely one hundred per cent sure they could label the behavior of their own local wildies. But this appeared to be, as best as they could tell, a lone mare that was not looking to join Crazy's band, which seemed odd beyond explanation. A mare, any mare, wild or domestic, was first and foremost a herd animal. So being alone would be frightening, and in the wild, dangerous. After a few more minutes of screaming and posturing, Crazy abruptly turned and rejoined his band, becoming one with the evening shadows and dappled light. Grace and Skye watched until they couldn't see any horses. The bay moved off, over a ridge and out of sight. Crazy and his harem went in the opposite direction, the contours of the land folding them in. # June 15, 2024
Dawn came warm. The insect nations were stirring in their countless masses. "I'd like to ride Firebird today" Skye said. Grace paused a moment before answering. "The hyper-local weather report calls for breezy. What I'm hearing over the station radio is the potential for actual wind. So let's see how the next few hours go." Firebird was built for speed, not necessarily trail riding. So they chose to head up the mountain, toward the back country, utilizing the relatively smooth dirt road. Such that anything in Chilao was smooth. Firebird welcomed the chance to stretch out. The girls were just getting their mounts into a hand gallop when unexpected company appeared. A wild filly jumped out onto the road first, her dam close behind. The wild mare and foal changed direction. Rather than cross the road they shied away from Grace and Skye. They were running on the road now. The mare was big, and she was moving, but she was no race horse. The girls gained ground quickly. Firebird and Windy Boy leaned into their power. Firebird overtook the big sabino mare fairly easily. Soon they were running side by side. "Careful!" Grace called out. Skye looked right into the eye of the big sabino mare. The mare was determined to leave her pursuers behind, but she didn't have speed on her side. The big mare turned suddenly, her foal like a shadow, and headed off the road and into the tall grass. Grace and Skye reined their horses in, staying on the road bed, watching as the mare and filly made their escape. "That was the best ride ever" Skye beamed as they head back toward the ranch, Firebird reluctant to take a flat footed walk. "That was a pretty good ride" Grace said, smiling. June 16 Skye walked around in the big empty space where their table had been just a week before. "Did the boss really lose our table at the powwow?" She asked. "And are we in any danger from that fire? All of a sudden it looks kind of ominous." "The short answer is yes" Grace responded. "At least yes to the table part. She said the table might be on the trailer, which isn't unloaded yet. As for the fire...hopefully the smoke is from the fire in Gorman which is fairly far away. I just looked it up. It's called the Post fire and it's at 14,500 acres. The girls stared into the reddened landscape. It was eerie and beautiful all at once. The smell of smoke was present, but not overwhelming. There was no ash fall, only smoke in the sky. And silence. They were just out of earshot of the fire station radio. Grace and Skye watched the light change as the smoke billowed in between them and the sun's light. Eventually, they headed back home. As the sun sunk low on the horizon, Crazy's band emerged onto the same rocky landscape. The rock ridge offered some small bit of relief from the biting insects, but only as long as there was a breeze. As dusk fell and shadows deepened, the band needed to choose a location to spend the evening. Crazy's vigilance as a ruling stallion also placed him in a high risk predicament; there were no dog soldiers hanging around to help ward off predators. June 29 "I should have worn my hat" Skye whispered. They couldn't see anything, but they could hear, every now and then, the crunch of hooves against loose rock, or the swish of a tail. Down beneath the shade of the rock ledge, there were horses. Chamise was in bloom. The bones of fallen pine cones lay scattered all about. Spent yucca flowers made a soft creamy pattern across the landscape. The Newcomer was still with the dark mare and foal. Taking advantage of both shade and breeze beneath the ledge, they rested in a narrow passage on the sprawling stone complex the girls called Mustang Rock. The girls took a clue from the horses, and moved, quietly as possible, into the shade. The stone formed a near perfect seat for them, but they were no closer to getting a view of the horses. Crazy knew he had company, but the dun horse posed no threat. He was completely non-confrontational, and moved his harem of two away at the slightest request. The girls were not visible, nor could he smell them, so their presence was as unknown to him as his was to them. Crazy's band took refuge in the shade of a towering pine, growing thick and lush after two good winters. After what seemed like a very long time of silence, the girls gave up, and headed home. "Ouch!" Grace flailed her arms about her head and neck. "Damn it!" Skye tried to swat it away, but it kept coming back. "It's a deer fly!" Skye said, trying to follow its erratic moves. "Aren't they supposed to go away after they bite you?" The afternoon was cooling, but Grace decided the arena might be a good alternative to deer fly encounters. "Do you want to go out again this evening?" Skye asked. "We'll use fly spray this time. And maybe ride." "I'd love to" Grace said. "Drives me crazy when we know there's horses about, but we can't see them." Skye was just about ready to reply when she saw Lousin and Anahit making their way toward her. Grace also took notice. Talk of finding the wild horses ended abruptly. All eyes followed Grace as she moved alongside La Barilla, and took a slightly exaggerated step to the right. After a second, he stepped sideways to the right. She did it again. He didi it again, slightly quicker. "I want to teach him to dance" Grace explained. "Like just a few steps. A shimmy to the left, a shimmy to the right, a twirl, maybe a few steps forward and a few steps back." Grace brought Moose down to the arena. Skye had a particular fondness for the big Morgan cross. He was a good horse...bold, willing, a mover. For the life of them neither of the girls could remember the name of the new shire. Another looker, with big movement and an engaging personality. Anahit and Lousin approached Grace while Skye was preoccupied with the strawberry horse. "So you know our mom is a social worker" Lousin began. "She has three girls right now..." "Four" Anahit corrected. "Heather sort of doesn't count" Lousin answered, then continued. "She has four girls under her supervision right now, three of them are young and very active, and she's looking to do something with them over the summer, like a camping trip or something." "Like horse camping?" Grace asked. "No" the sisters answered in unison. "The little girls are wild" Anahit explained. "I mean not wild. High energy." "She meant wild" Lousin said. "They're a hand full. Our mom has an assistant, she came to the art opening...Heather came to the art opening too, in fact. She's not looking to put them on horses. She's looking for something fun to do with them, something they'll remember and cherish, something normal and healthy like a family would do." "Well" Grace responded, "the boss isn't here right now, and we'd have to ask her. But if she says yes, we'll be happy to help." Skye brought down the Vanner mare and foal. The afternoon sun was sinking low in the western sky and the air was delicious. It would have been perfect riding weather to go back out looking for the wildies. But neither Grace or Skye breathed a word about it. There was a mutual, awkward silence on the subject between them...an awkwardness that they maintained between the two of them while getting on with the business of exercising horses. Lousin wrapped her arms around the filly. "You are just the most adorable..." # May 5, 2024
Sunday dawned crisp and windy. An overnight rain left the land refreshed and glorious. Spring's flowers were getting ready to emerge in a big way. The girls studied the landscape from the relative comfort of the Jeep. Grace thought she saw something move. She edged the Jeep slowly along the rock ledge, hoping for a better view. Late afternoon shadows played on the moving grasses and flowers. Then Skye saw it too. Moving shadows. Darting across the loose, rocky soil, horse shaped, curving with the contours of the land. Grace rolled the Jeep forward more, trying to get a better look. Skye looked down over the edge for a moment. "Whoa Grace, whoa..." They saw the mare first. A big mare, a liver chestnut sabino, big head, big feet, big body. She was no minuscule mustang. Her foal followed on her heels, a little copy of its mother, but with different facial markings, less body white, and big ears on a small head. The girls saw them for just a fleeting moment, and then the foliage, lush with spring, obscured their view, and the mare and foal slipped out of sight. The girls, bundled in their ponchos, watched and waited, but the land fell still and silent again. Back in the shelter of home, they pondered what they'd seen. "I think we can say with certainty that something is happening with the wildies" Skye said. "And it just keeps getting more interesting." "What though..." Grace replied. "Is this just the way of it? Herds aren't really sleepy and stable, they're dynamic and constantly changing and this is normal...or is something upsetting the balance." Skye didn't have an answer. And today's sighting certainly didn't make anything more clear. May 10 It was more or less suddenly high spring. Flowers were blooming everywhere. Skye could hardly watch the trail ahead for wanting to see the flowers. Grace was more focused on the changing sky. Popcorn flower was one of Skye's favorites. There were so many varieties, from miniscule, low growing flowers to tall, showy shrubs. She had to get a better look...and carefully, because a tarantula wasp was also checking out the flowers. Clouds were building quickly in the west. A T cell, Grace surmised. And then she heard a sound. She'd never heard anything like it before, and it was coming toward them. A shrill vibration, almost like a racing drone; and then she saw it. It was no drone, but two birds, a pigeon flying for its life with a pursuer close behind, the air being ripped apart by the blinding speed of their flight. The pigeon flung itself into the shelter of a thick pine tree and the pursuer swerved left. Chase over. The predator circled, flying past the girls again at a much slower speed. A peregrine falcon. "That was amazing!" Skye said, excited. "Yeah it was. These clouds are pretty amazing too. Let's head back to the ranch." "Oh man, we've got hours before dark. Besides, I'd love to see some lightning." "Have you ever seen lightning up close?" Grace asked. "It's pretty scary. It's awesome and impressive for sure." A little reluctantly, Skye submitted. Probably nothing would happen, probably there would be no lightning. But it was one of the things Grace was cautious about, so they headed toward home. Grace had gotten accustomed to the helicopters working in Chilao, as had all the horses and dogs and everyone else. Men flying through the air tethered to a line was hardly reason to pause any more. As they rode back, the helicopters were coming in, carrying their various human and inanimate loads. "Do you suppose the line workers are coming in because of the clouds?" Skye asked. "Coincidence, I think" Grace replied. "It's near day's end on a Friday. I think they want to be in their cars and trucks and heading home at 5 PM. But if it wasn't almost 5 PM...yeah, they might be coming in to let the storm pass." And the storm passed over...leaving a little rain somewhere down the mountain, leaving the night sky clear, dissipating as suddenly as it formed. May 18 Wait until the afternoon, they told Skye, or go out in the morning, the light is better then for taking pictures. Well, it wasn't exactly early morning or late afternoon, but Skye decided to give photographing the flowers a try. There was only going to be one way to do these flowers justice, and that was getting down on the ground with them. The boss's old camera was fickle, but when it chose to focus on the same things Skye wanted to focus on, it was amazing. The day ws deliciously warm, the air was cool. All was quiet and peaceful. Even the invasive cheat grass was a work of art to view through the lens. Skye found tall, slender stalks with green and white stripes and a bulging, unopened flower. A lily of some sort, Skye guessed. It was easy to lose herself in the beauty. Beauty all around. Shadows played on the landscape. Skye was distracted by a shadow that seemed to be moving. She looked up from a bed of yellow and white flowers. With a clatter of hooves on stone the shadow turned and moved away. Skye tried to follow with the camera. Formidable foliage stood in her way. But she was sure of what she saw. It was Petrichor. At last. And then he was gone. She could hardly wait to tell Grace. No. Maybe just show her the pictures...and watch the look on her face. Her beloved Petrichor, whom they had seen little of in recent months...Grace would probably know exactly how long it had been since they'd seen him last...alive and well. May 19 Evening shadows were about to envelope the mountain. Grab and Skye had gone on foot to Mustang Rock. The presence of wild horses had been foretold by their domestic horses, so the girls moved cautiously, trying to stay out of view, hoping to get close to the wildies without being seen. Skye crept up a stone slope soundlessly. "Can you see anything?" Grace whispered. Skye could. Barely. And then so could Grace. "A goldie" she whispered. Highlander caught wind of the girls. "Palomino?" Skye asked. "Dun?" Grace responded with a question. "Dunalino?" Grace smiled. "I don't know. Time will tell." The herd moved away, slowly. Red bugler penstamen made a thin cover. But somehow, the girls could tell Highlander wasn't going to charge them. th dun mare was a good momma, protective and attentive to her young foal. "It's a colt!" Sky said softly. "Yes it is." The girls watched until the horses moved out of view. This was the first foal born to Highlander's band, and he was unusually calm. No need to mess up a beautiful moment by pressing in too close. The trees captured the day's last light as the girls headed back to the ranch. The horses slipped away into the rugged land. May 20 Skye was both frustrated by and falling in love with photography. Armed with the camera, all the world becomes a subject...even if tracking that subject as it does some unusual...or perhaps unexpected...behavior is difficult. So it was as she tried to follow a red tailed hawk in what appeared to be the slow motion pursuit of a raven. Sworn enemies, it seemed impossible that the hawk could be doing anything other than warding off the raven while expending minimal energy. At the opposite end of the size spectrum, her next subject was a hummingbird. It was high spring and the skies were busy, with all nature of things. Grace had grown accustomed to the helicopters, as had most everyone. Still, it wouldn't be a day to expect wild horses to be hanging around. The girls took a walk to the seasonal stream below the fire station. The local rivulets of water would dry soon. They had been so fortunate to have water for this long. Best to honor it with their attention while they could. Each amazing detail, from minute flowers and mosses to water insects. The dogs in the water roused an unexpected resident, a tree frog as they are commonly known. People flying through the air was becoming a common sight. "I think they're taking a video!" Skye said. "I think you're right" Grace said. "It's not an every-day view to get a video from, that's for sure." Skye waved, wondering if in fact they were in the video. And off to work the linemen went, flying through the air. Skye found a flower she'd never seen in Chilao before. "I think it's a kind of mallow" Skye said. "One of the boss's friends will know" Grace assured her May 25 Late afternoon in Chilao, and calm for a holiday weekend. The girls listened, looked. Precious and Missed A Spot were equally attentive, in their mature, calm way. Grace just had a feeling. The horses were focused. There! They saw him. Just for a fleeting moment, but unmistakable. It was Petrichor. They rode carefully down the rock escarpment to where he'd stood moments earlier. Grace swung a leg over Spot's neck, smiling. She whispered to Skye. "Hold my beer." Skye saw a flash of purple in the flowers, mingled in the red. A hummingbird. And then other movement. But she couldn't say anything. She didn't want to startle anyone. Grace moved quietly down the rock face. Out in the open now, Grace could see to the stream, a trickle of water still flowing. Skye could see Petrichor's band, less the black mare she called Thorn. And Skye could see Petrichor. As Grace moved quietly over the rocks, a lizard came toward her, stretching itself on the rock she was traversing, nearly at her feet. And instead of moving away at her approach, it just stayed there. The lizard closed its eyes for a few moments and appeared to be napping. Completely comfortable with her. Almost touching her boot. It was fascinating, and unusual behavior, and Grace was mesmerized by the intricate detail of the lizard's coloring that allowed it to blend so seamlessly into the rocks. Precious, Skye's mount, let out a short, warning blow, breaking the lizard's spell. Grace spun around. Petrichor was behind her. There was a lot of prancing around, ear flicking, tail swishing, every now and then a loud breath. The stallion had a lot of little scars and scrapes, but overall Petrichor looked healthy. Then she noticed his eye. Something was different. The right eye looked fine. He came in slowly. Very slowly. Grace moved her hand ever so soft and slow. He followed with his head until she could get a better look at his left eye. It was streaked with areas of blue, interlaced with golden brown. it wasn't completely milky or cloudy. The eyelid and surrounding skin was unscarred. He stayed with her. Perhaps for a minute. Perhaps two or three minutes. Longer than he'd done in the past. She touched his nose. They exchanged breath. He was both active, moving his ears, lips, tail, feet...and yet exuding a sense of calmness. And then he departed. Petrichor ignored Skye and her mounts. They watched quietly as he passed by. Skye rode down to where Grace stood, with Spot in tow. "As soon as you started heading toward the creek he came up behind you" Skye said. "That was pretty exciting." "Yeah it was." "Did you see a rattlesnake or something?" "No," Grace replied, "it was a lizard. The craziest thing Skye. This lizard just came up and decided to hang out with me." "You are popular with the wildlife today." It was a lovely ride back to the ranch, on every level. # 9/4/2024 The First Ever MIM 2024 High Point Performance Challenge hosted by Grace and Skye LittleRead NowMay 3, 2024
It was Art Night at MIM. The arena was all set up, the sand footing smoothed, the easels carefully placed. The equus prints by Phariss Sacha had each been removed from their protective coverings, and adhered to their backing boards. The easel paintings by Katy Niles made a strong, colorful, balanced contrast. Skye's deer family and two of her watercolors of trees were also on display. Seeing the turnout and how everything came together made the considerable work of art night feel worthwhile. Anahit and Lousin introduced Grace and Skye to two of their friends, Crustal and Heather. Riders and stable hands milled about, along with many of Grace and Skye's dogs. It was going to be a good show. May 4 Show day at last. Grace kicked it off with a one woman grand entry on her beloved Windy Boy. Skye watched them fly down the rail. Windy Boy was Grace's favorite horse to ride when she first came to the ranch. The two of them still had a special bond. And then a calf tore down the rail! Whose calf, they really weren't sure, but he was cute, and he could move English events came first. Skye watched a young girl who couldn't have been older than nine or ten put her pony over jumps with all the style of a veteran rider, and an eager smile on her face the whole while. Hunters and jumpers. Glorious horses. But a lot of work to put up and take down the jumps and change the course. English english english. It went on for a long time. There were some beautiful horses in the arena. English games. Other english. It was all fun to watch. It was all pleasant and friendly, but there were some seriously competent horses and riders in the arena. Finally, in the afternoon, the western division began, and Grace got to ride for Tara Reich's stable. The calves seemed to know they were up against a horse they couldn't outmaneuver. And at last, the calves got their little bit of limelight. Barrels. Poles. Grace felt sometimes like she might be better off just to sit down and hang on. There wasn't much this horse couldn't do on her own. Roll backs and slides as smooth as silk. Tara's western pleasure horse was equally responsive...on a completely different level. Skye wandered outside when there was a lull in the action. It was so hard to be inside all day, even it it was a horse show. She watched a bank of clouds moving up the mountain and felt the moist chill it brought with it. It would be a cold night. Back inside the arena, Grace was putting the finishing points on the horse who would take the high point performance challenge title. Then Dahlia slipped comfortably into the saddle, looped the reins around the horn, and using only her weight to guide her horse, made an impressive mounted archery exhibition. Skye loved the other regalia class. Mulan reminded her of Mikki. And the medieval warrior was breathtaking. It had been a long day, but a really good one, especially for Grace, riding GTFO Imposter Syndrome to the performance high point championship. # April 4, 2024
Peering down from the warmth of the big red truck, Skye saw the tiny tracks of a hopping rodent in the snow. "I've never loved the Pavement Queen as much as I do this morning" Skye said. Grace smiled. "Wouldn't be so bad but for that little breeze. It'll warm up quick though. Not a cloud in sight." "Are we going to the track day with the boss?" Grace thought for a moment. "Honestly, I'd rather stay here and hold down the fort." "You mean look for Petrichor" Skye said, smiling. "Yes. I would really like to find Petrichor." "Just right now, I would like to find Petrichor from the warmth of the truck" Grace confessed. The day had been lovely - but as finding Petrichor, or any wild horses for that matter, the girls had been unsuccessful. "You know there's an eclipse tomorrow" Skye mentioned as the sun made its final appearance on the horizon. "We won't be able to see much of it from here though, I guess." "We could try" Grace said. April 8 The wind blew in strong, icy cold gusts and Grace struggled to keep her feet and focus the image. "Where'd that camera come from?" "The boss gave it to me. Said it was her first digital camera. And she thought it still worked okay." "Well, don't point it directly at the sun." "Actually she said she didn't care if I did, but I should be careful of my eyes." "Good advice." Grace struggled in the wind with a white sheet of cardboard, trying to focus the image of the partially covered su on another, much larger piece of white cardboard. "I can't get it quite perfect. But you can see it, right?" "So that's the moon shadow on the top?" "Yup." Skye tried to photograph the pinhole image, but Grace was having trouble getting it to come into good focus. "Well, I can sort of get it" Skye said. "When is our next chance to try again?" "In twenty years" Grace replied. "Oh. Well. I guess don't need to keep your pinhole device handy then." April 13 It was a wind-blown mist...like being inside of a cloud. Skye decided to take the camera and a couple of dogs and go for a walk. How bad could a little mist be? But as they faced into the wind, the mist came in harder, stinging cold and driven by gusts of impartial wind. Skye tried to get a picture that would do it justice, but it was difficult. Soon her hands were beginning to feel numb. And soon the mist became rain. Skyre retreated to the warmth of home. "We haven't been riding all month!" Skye exclaimed, hair slicked down with moisture. "And that was the most miserable walk in the rain I think I've ever taken. It was freezing cold and painful!" "Maybe tomorrow will be better. But you know, as soon as the rain is done, it'll be hot, and there will be a thousand biting insects, and rattlesnakes and coyotes and bears..." "I know. There's maybe one or two days where you can lay on the green grass and take a nap...and then it changes..." "Thursday was nice" Grace reminded Skye. "It was! And then Friday was cold! See what I mean?" "We'll see what tomorrow brings. If the weather isn't cooperating maybe we'll ride in the arena or something." "By the way, have you noticed who found the lower bunk bed?" It took Skye a moment. "Vinnie?" "Yup. He looks pretty comfy." April 14 The air was still, and cloud cover muted the colors of dawn. Crazy's band looked fit. The foals moved confidently in front of their dams. Highlander and his mares were not far behind. In much the way Highlander had shadowed Petrichor, he now seemed to be shadowing Crazy, but with a slightly greater distance between them. The girls emerged above the horses, in plain sight, but also safe. It was good to see the wild ones again. But the absence of Petrichor and his band left a hole in Grace's chest. Skye loved him too, but not the way Grace did. The snow began to fall again. The girls retreated to the arena, where Anoush, Anahit and Lousin found them. The arena was no warmer than the air outside, but it was dry. "I think I need a therapist" Skye exclaimed. "Naw" Grace said, "the boss runs around in her pajamas all the time. You're fine." "No, that bridle! It has more buckles and straps...and then I got it it all done and I realized I attached one of the reins backwards..." The english bridle Luna wore was far more complicated than any western rig. "It's okay" Grace reassured. "You did a great job. I think the...cavesson?...could be a little higher, but don't even worry about it." "What is that for?" "Ground work, I believe. You can put a long line on the nose band and use the reins to set the horse's head, or let them be loose." "She's very nice" Anoush said of Luna. "Someone has definitely put some some work into her." Grace noticed that Anoush wasn't posting at the trot. "I couldn't get the left stirrup to adjust" Anoush explained. "It's okay, this is good practice for me. Skye is this your saddle? It seems the stirrups were set for someone about your size." "Oh no ma'am" Skye said, laughing. "I wouldn't have a clue how to sit in that saddle." Anoush rode Luna a bit longer before encouraging Skye to give it a try. Skye's feet were a little wide in the stirrups and her reins were a touch loose. But her seat was good. Comfortable. Natural. "Create a little bit of contact with her mouth through the reins. Just ever so slight. She's very responsive. Point your toes more inward. Beautiful. Very nice." "Now bring her down to a walk using only your weight in the saddle." Skye knew how to do that. Luna immediately dropped to a walk as Skye released the reins. "And there you are" Anoush said, "riding on the buckle." The snow came in thick flurries all afternoon. "For my next equine experience, I'm going to try trick riding" Skye told Lousin and Anahit. "I looked everywhere for your trick riding rig that you used with La Barilla for the review" Skye said to Grace, "but I couldn't find it, so I made another one. Do you think I could try it?" "On who?" "How about this guy?" "Uhhh...maybe..." Clay was a good horse. If he had any quirks, Grace hadn't encountered them. She helped Skye into the saddle, then watched as she fitted her rig over the saddle horn. "I think you made the same mistake I did Skye. It's too short. And that leather is super thick. Where'd you get that?" "The boss. She thought it might have been upholstery leather. It's like water buffalo or something. Super thick." Grace looked at her mount. His eyes were calm. "Clay no matter what, you just hold still." Grace was right. The leather was too thick, and too short. Getting from sitting to standing was the hard part. And not using the reins for balance. But then, after a few false starts, Skye did it. Clay kept all four feet planted. "Let's call this success" Grace said. "Okay!" Skye agreed. At last, the cold won out, and the girls were content to call it a day. A good day, by all accounts. Perhaps they would find Petrichor soon. April 15 The helicopters were working as close as Skye ever remembered. She convinced Grace to come out with her and watch.* It was impressive, to be sure. "Is that little helicopter the kind they use for wild horse round ups?" Skye asked. "The ones I've seen in pictures are usually even smaller. Bubble shaped and very manueverable." ""Would our wildies even know to run away?" "I think they'd get the idea when the helicopter started approaching them. And then once one horse starts running, they all run." Skye thought about it for a while. "Our horses...Francis's horses...I think we can be pretty sure they were originally Francis's horses...they wouldn't know about being chased by a helicopter, would they? They have no freeze marks. Don't they always get freeze marks if they're captured?" Skye had a good point. Grace replied. "So, if our wild horses are Francis's wild horses, unless there were new horses added to the herds recently, these horses would be several generations removed from the original horses she rescued and brought to her sanctuary." "And as much as I don't really care for having the helicopters around here" Grace continued, "I wish I could get a ride in one and go look for Petrichor." April 20 It was suddenly spring...insects and all. Grace and Skye rode the familiar places, looking for signs of wild horses in the quickly fading light. They came up empty handed, although any time spent on a horse was usually good. They would try again tomorrow. April 21 On Sunday, as the sun slipped low into the western sky, the girls headed to Mustang Rock. Skye had an eerie sensation. "I feel like we're being watched" she said. "We probably are" Grace replied. "It's going to be dusk in a moment, so all the night things are getting about their business." The moon was brilliant in the soon-to-be-dark sky. "Is tomorrow the full moon?" "Tomorrow or the next day" Grace replied. Ladyhawk was doing a lot of dancing around. "She sure is antsy" Skye said. Grace watched. Ladyhawk was always a lot of horse, but she did seem even a bit moreso tonight. And then they saw something moving through the rocks, a shadow against shadows. The mare Skye named Thorn. They hesitated for a moment, and then followed her. The mare was not interested in letting them get too close. She broke into a gallop, and with a clattering of hooves on rock scrambled up a steep escarpment to the top of the rock formation. "Did you see that?" Skye shrieked. "That horse is nuts!" Nuts might have been an understatement. Grace stood in the saddle, looking for the other horses she'd hoped the black mare was leading them to. She strained to hear. But all she heard was the occasional clattering of Thorn's hooves on the rocks above them. The black mare spun around to take a last look at her pursuers before disappearing into the fading light. The sun slipped behind the mountain, the cool, soothing sound of running water trickling into the girls' consciousness. They paused for a moment on their way back to the ranch to take it in. Seemed like spring was here now, and the sound and sight of running water all around might soon be a memory. For a moment, the creek's melody took Grace's mind away from her thoughts of Petrichor. But only for a moment. April 29 Outside, the day was picture perfect. A cool morning warming gently under a clear blue sky. But the girls were inside, helping the boss get ready for the upcoming horse show. "I like them so much better out of their protective sheeting" the boss said of the Sacha Phariss prints. "I know it's going to be a lot of extra work, but I think I want to take them all out of their plastic sleeves and mount them onto their backing boards. Otherwise that reflection...it's just so distracting." The boss turned to Skye. "Do you think I'm being too OCD? Should we just hang them in their plastic and forget about it?" Skye was watching the foals in the arena introduce themselves. She was much too distracted to have an opinion. "Grace" the boss said, "why don't you answer? I'm being too OCD, right?" "I love my job and I love my life" Grace responded. "And you aren't wrong, the reflection definitely takes away from being able to appreciate the work. Whether or not that makes you OCD is...ummm...outside the limits of my expertise. But it sounds like you've already made up your mind anyway, and the plastic is coming off. " The boss smiled. Then she frowned. "They might get dusty. That would be terrible." Grace replied quickly this time. "We can wet down the arena." The boss smiled again. "Yes we can." # March 23, 2024
Skye stood and stared at the english saddle pad, in awe of its ornateness, its finery. "You can get closer" Grace said. "It won't bite you." "That is the fanciest saddle pad I've ever seen. And it's pink!" "We have a white one too." "Who made these?" "StudioMaire." "I've never...how are we going to keep these clean?" Grace didn't have an immediate answer, but after a fair pause, she responded. "Very carefully." March 24, Just before dawn There was more of a crunching sound beneath La Barilla's hooves than Grace was comfortable with. The snow wasn't soft and snowy. She saw tracks, and guessed them to be fox...not the long-ranging, single foot trot of the coyote. They went slowly and carefully. The rising sun would quickly warm the ground. There was no sign of the wild horses that Grace so longed to see. As the air warmed, the frozen snow melted, but before it made its journey all the way back to liquid water, it became a bit more slippery. Grace decided to turn around, and take a path back that was still mostly in the shadows. That path took them near a snow melt pool in the fire break. La Barilla's hind legs slid in the saturated soil, and kept sliding, folding under him. He began slipping sideways. He scrambled. Grace leaned forward over his shoulders, gave him his head, hoping somehow she could help him balance, but the ground offered no traction. La Barilla's hooves slipped out from underneath him, and he plunged into the icy pool. Grace pulled up her right leg, then let go of the reins and went into the water. The soil was incredibly slick. A layer of ice covered the surface of the water. La Barilla was pressed against it, all four legs beneath him. Little more than a depression left by heavy equipment, the hole and the water were deceptively deep. La Barilla lurched forward, scrambled up the steep bank, almost to the top, before slipping back into the water. If Grace could get him to go back out the way they'd fallen in... He lunged forward again. Thrusting with his whole body, stabbing front hooves into the soft soil like anchors, every fiber focused, deliberate, determined. He scaled the slippery bank. La Barilla seemed no worse for the wear. Grace was none too sure on her own feet, in boots not made for walking on water, but she decided to walk La Barilla home nonetheless. In one of the outdoor arenas, Anahit and Lousin's mom greeted Grace cheerfully. As she got closer, she sensed a bit of concern about Grace. "Is everything well? Where is Skye?" Grace took a deep breath. "Everything is good. Skye wasn't feeling well, and then she stayed up all night watching documentaries on the arctic, the antarctic, and the origins of life on earth. I can tell you that, because I couldn't see the screen, but I was often listening." Mom laughed. "Is she going to be a biologist?" "Maybe" Grace said. "She's very tuned in to the environment, on a big-picture scale. So I went out for a ride this morning without her, and we fell in a water hole. Totally my fault. I chose the wrong path back." "On this horse?" "Yes." Mom studied La Barilla for a moment. "He appears to be just fine. Did you get hurt?" "Nope, just wet. And I was so concerned that La Barilla might have gotten hurt, it took me a while to realize he was also soaking wet under the saddle, and get him untacked." As Grace spoke, the cloud cover thickened, and a cool breeze moved restlessly across the arena. Mom noticed Grace's pants. They were wet to the top of her legs. "I think you should put your horse in a nice dry stall and then do the same for yourself. Go inside and get out of those wet clothes." She was probably right. Grace wanted to show her the retooled english saddle, and the beautiful saddle pads, and ask her many questions...including what she liked to be called, besides mom...but perhaps this wasn't the morning for all of that. March 31, Easter Sunday Grace and Skye made their way to the tack room during a break in the rain. "Still think going barefoot to keep your shoes dry was a good idea?" "I don't know" Skye giggled. "I can't feel my feet." Sitting atop the pink and white english saddle pads, Grace found herself being stared at by a giant stuffed Easter bunny. The Berber saddle on the next rack held an Easter basket, from which peered gingerbread men. "Hoppy Easter" tea the card in front of the basket. "From the boss?" Skye asked. "Nope. Dear Grace and Skye, we hope you have a wonderful Easter, and Skye, please get well soon. Stay warm! Anoush, Anahit and Lousin." Grace surveyed the Easter basket. "No shortage of love in here." "Anoush! What a pretty name! And now she knows we have these fancy new saddle pads." # |