A Gentle Time

December 3, 2023
Chilao, Angeles National Forest

Just before dawn, the weather shifted. Warm air replaced the cold, invisibly, silently. The dark mare stood in the clearing, listening, smelling, sensing, feeling. There were other horses, somewhere. She wasn't sure exactly where. Her filly was hungry, and not yet weaned.  It seemed safe enough. She let the filly suckle. 

A few hours later, Skye struggled with the side door of the horse trailer, and finally won.  The mare inside was beautiful. And big. She took up the entire space.

The mare came out of the trailer smooth and easy, swishing her tail out of the way of her hooves, her attention focused on the other passenger in the trailer.

The other passenger took a little gentle coaxing to get the idea of backing out, but soon enough she did. 

Grace and Skye took a moment to study them.  They were beautiful Vanners, the mare a bay tobiano, the foal a delightful palomino pinto pattern. A sudden wind storm caught the girls off guard, bringing them out of their reverie with the new mare and foal and promptly into a moment of decision. The wind was deliciously warm, yes, but gusting, wild and unpredictable.

"Let's take then to the arena" Grace said. 

"This place is wild, isn't it?" Skye replied. "One minute it's calm and dreamy, the next you're running for cover...I love it here."

Grace laughed. "It's a good thing, because otherwise you'd hate it here."

"Right?"

In the indoor arena they were joined by Lousin, Anahit and the boss, along with Tosh and Contessa.

Grace did a quick double-take when she saw Skye riding the new mare. Where did she even find a place to launch herself up on that substantial mare?

Skye was excited to see Anahit and Lousin.

"Are you coming to the Christmas party?" Skye asked.
"When is it?" Anahit responded.

"December 17."

"We'd love to. Will it be like last year?"

Skye looked to the boss. The boss nodded.

"Yes, pretty much just like last year. Just maybe with more dogs and horses!"

As quickly as the wind storm came, it went, an audible voice moving through the pines, away, away into another canyon, another place, and the girls brought the lovely mare and foal back outside to enjoy the sunshine.

December 10
Autumn's end came, dry and windblown.  The air was calm in the early hours, but about the time Grace and Skye departed for a Sunday morning ride, the wind returned.

They hugged the rock outcropping's sheltered side, the way the wild horses often did, but the wind found them there too.  So they headed back. The wind advisory would end at noon. Perhaps later on conditions would improve.

"What horses are you going to bring down for the Christmas party?"  Skye asked.

"I don't know yet" Grace mused.

"Me neither" Skye responded.

It was time to get ready for the Christmas party.  They fought their way across the arena in the big red Pavement Queen. It seemed like all that tread and all those tires should have fared better in the sand.  Just aobut two thirds of the way across, they lost the battle with the sand.

"Well, we almost made it." Skye said. "I'll get a shovel."

"Let's just unload here" Grace said. "It's not too far. We ought to be able to sort of shimmy the tree into position."

Grace lifted the tree so that Skye could get the table out. 

​"Am I stuck on the tailgate?" Skye asked. 

"Nope, left me lift the tree a little higher."

Grace lifted. Skye tugged.  And then everything moved quite suddenly.
Both girls ended up in the sand.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Dang it. Now we've got a tree and a truck stuck."

"What would happen if you just drove forward real fast?"

Grace laughed. "We'll try that next if a little more shoving doesn't work."

Skye keyed into the bosses voice when they went back outside.

"In Arizona, where they come from, these trees are medicine to indigenous people" Skye heard the boss explaining to someone whom she did not recognize.
"Here, they aren't that great. They swell with water in the winter months. If there is a good freeze, they can explode. They grow top-heavy, and not sorted out in a way that the wind can blow through them. So in heavy winds they snap. We were without power for sixteen months when one of them took out a power pole a few years back."

Skye looked at Grace, questioning. Grace nodded. The boss went on. "They are prolific seeders too, as evidenced by all these young saplings everywhere. But probably the biggest thing is, they burn readily, and they burn hot. And once they ignite, all the trees around then ignite. And yet, they are medicine."

The girls moved along.

"Are those trees going to get taken out?" Skye asked quietly.

"I think so. I mean, I don't know when or how but I know the boss is hoping to get them gone."

Skye frowned.

"I know" Grace said. 'It's complicated."

Bringing in the calves was a bit less complicated. When they chose to cooperate.

Grace noted a bobcat track, made during the last rain, several weeks ago now.

Skye watched Grace and La Barilla. He was no cow pony. Not yet anyway. But he did seem to be getting the idea that the calves would yield to him, and that this was desirable.

The calves would be an easy mark for a mountain lion, or even a bear, so they had to be brought in before dark.  After a rather chaotic gathering together, the calves acquiesced, and headed back to the ranch in an orderly fashion. 

"Look at that!" Skye laughed. "Like we know what we're doing!"

Coyote sounded off as they departed. Skye spun Ladyhawk around, searching the landscape, following the calls. Coyote stayed just out of sight, vocalizing from behind the dense chaparral cover, close, but invisible. She so wanted to catch a glimpse of the coyote.  But it was not to be.

December 11
The following dayt was time to get the arena back in order.

"This sand is so deep" Grace said. "Maybe too deep."

"I think so too!" Skye said. "Until I fall. Then I'm like 'oh thank goodness this sand is so deep.'"

"True that" Grace replied.

With a small rake and a shovel, they evened the sand and tried to ameliorate the deep tracks that the tires had made.

"This is going to take forever" Grace said.

"I have an idea." Skye replied. "Let's get some help. Let's turn out some horses."

"Great idea."

Skye brought out her beloved horses.  And the new donkey, that the boss named "Honkey."  

"So you know there's just one problem with this idea" Grace said.

"What?"

"We should maybe have chosen more active horses. This is still going to take all day."

December 17.
The day of the Christmas party had arrived, and it was a beautiful day. 

Skye loved the red dawn effect, and the alpine glow at sunset. Everything was ready. The boss was putting the finishing touches on the food and people were already showing up, well before 11 AM.

And horse people too! But no trailers full of horses. It had been a whole year since Redbird Ranch had hosted a gathering, and everyone - even the boss - seemed perfectly content to see old friends, socialize and eat.   Once again, the girls had the arena to themselves.

Anahit and Lousin wandered through the art garden.  A last-moment idea, Skye chose to arrange art pieces by Katy NIles along the wall by the wash rack, donated to the ranch by Shandi Bech, including her deer statuary in the mix of painting s by Katy Niles.

Anahit and Lousin found their way to the tack room. Anahit was surprised to see english saddles.
"We'll have to tell mom" she said to her sister. "I did not expect to see anything english here."

Grace chose to ride La Barilla, and Skye, her odd favorite, Ladyhawk.

Grace showed off La Barilla's side pass, which he did quite smoothly from left to right. Skye chatted with the neighbor girls. Tomorrow, she told them, when the party was over and the ranch was quiet again, would be a great day to go for a ride. Anahit and Lousin were quite agreeable to the idea. 

December 18
Grace glanced at the laptop as she prepared to wake Skye. There was a message from the boss. It was unusually long.

"So I bought Skye a horse. Well two horses really. Maybe three. I'm not sure about the third one. Actually i'm not sure about any of them. I bought one of them and then changed my mind and asked for my money back and then I ended up buying her back the next day. Anyway, it's a surprise. But before she sees them I want you to look them all over. However many there ends up being, two or three."

Grace wanted to reply, and share her experience with Skye being rather humble about gifts, and being exceptionally selfless and without a lot of material needs. But then she stopped. These weren't possessions such as saddles. These were horses. What young girl alive would say no to a horse. Grace closed the laptop.

It looked like the four leggeds were going to get Skye out of bed for her.

The skies were beautiful, with a mass of real clouds building, moving in from the southeast.

Grace let Skye choose the horses they would ride. Skye offered six choices.

"I know the grey gelding is super well trained and pretty much bomb-proof, but he's also an active, high energy horse" Grace said. "I'd scratch that one. And I'd scratch The Black just because of the weather. Her arthritis is probably acting up today. She does need walking, but maybe on softer ground."

The next four were all suitable candidates. Grace choose the old mustang mare and Blondie. 

"I feel like Precious and Spot are so tuned in to you, and occasionally me, that it might be weird for them to have other riders. I mean, I'm sure they'd do fine, but..."

Finding a bridle for the Belgian mare proved impossible. Skye found a halter and quickly made reins from a piece of rope. 

Grace and Skye watched. Anahit and Lousin seemed relaxed enough. 
"She's enormous!" Lousin called to her earthbound friends. "I'm not sure how to sit on her! She's like a chair!"

Outside, there were still a few visible patches of blue in the sky. The girls ventured out, into the stillness. It was quiet. The wind was still. They would just take a very short ride. At the walk. 

Grace noticed hoof prints. Lots of them. Mingled among the cloven tracks of a dozen bull calves, she thought she saw the delicate hoof prints of a foal.

Anahit and Lousin and their mounts seemed content, unruffled.

Skye noticed Grace looking at the ground. Skye looked at the ground also. Grace must've seen something. But what.

Ladyhawk was busy looking up.  A deep, dark layer of clouds moved toward them from the southeast. 

Baron and Hobo turned toward home. The girls collectively followed.

It was perfectly still. And then the soft sound. The rain began.

Grace brought La Barilla back to his stall and the other girls brought their horses to the indoor arena. Showers stopped and started, whispers of rain falling for a few moments, followed by silence and stillness.

Back inside, the girls were wet, all of them, but not much worse for the wear.

"Well, we got to ride in the rain!" Skye said enthusiastically. "Was that La Barilla's first ride in the rain Grace?"

She had to think about it. "Maybe it was. We've certainly gotten wet before, but I don't recall rain."

Lousin looked a bit chilled.

"I'll take you home in the truck" Grace offered. "Skye, I'll help you with the horses in the arena when I get back."

"Can we have just a moment?" Anahit asked, her eyes wandering from one piece of artwork to the next. "I just...need a moment to take all of this in."

December 24
The day of Christmas Eve

"Are you going to come open this box Skye?"

"Does it say it's for me?"

"How did it get here?" Skye asked, tugging on the bow.  "I'm going to guess the boss snuck in and dropped this off, right?"

The lid fairly popped off the box. It was quite full.
Grace looked at the items inside.  "Yup, I think this box is for you Skye."

There was a generous amount of clothing pouring out of that box. Grace wondered what had happened with the horses the boss was talking about bringing home for Skye...if they were coming, if they were coming in time for Christmas. 

There were pajama pants.  A hoodie.

"And look! Skye bubbled. "Tops!"

Skye pulled the pink hoodie on. It was soft and fit her well. A warm and lovely Christmas gift, indeed.  
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