The Weather Channel forecast included random thunderstorms
for today. The sky was clear at 9 am so restless for adventure we
went up to the barn. My 13 year old daughter Olivia and I saddled up two
of the horses and headed out the gate into the hills.
Olivia loves the Roan, he's 22, tall and stalwart. He has a tendency to
look around command the territory. I rode Cactus, aka BeanBelly. He's
a copper penny sorrel, an easy keeper with a perennial big belly and
a good disposition.
Riding along with Olivia I was reminded of myself at her age. I had a
17 hand sorrel gelding with a flaxen mane and tail named October's
Country Gentleman. Tober was 1/2 American Saddlebred and 1/2
Arabian. He took long steps, had smooth gaits and was a perfect
companion for my all day excursions in the hills of Marin . I loved
to head out in the early morning and just let a trail beckon me. I learned
my geography from the back of a horse.
Olivia spotted a rattler hunting its prey, we saw lots of mushrooms,
antelope, mule deer bucks and does, elk poop and a couple of white tail does.
Olivia pointed out the funneled webs a spider that made its home in
holes in the ground. From atop Cactus I could look down thru the web and see
the holes brown resident spider - looked to be about 1 1/2 inches across
from the tip of one leg to the opposite leg. The grass hoppers were jumping around.
The cactus was looking green, the thistles had dried up and the grass
had greeneed up after last weeks rain.
We saw many different kinds of hawks, lots of meadowlarks and bugs of all
sorts. The clouds started coming in and the wind picked up so we headed
back to the ranch.
for today. The sky was clear at 9 am so restless for adventure we
went up to the barn. My 13 year old daughter Olivia and I saddled up two
of the horses and headed out the gate into the hills.
Olivia loves the Roan, he's 22, tall and stalwart. He has a tendency to
look around command the territory. I rode Cactus, aka BeanBelly. He's
a copper penny sorrel, an easy keeper with a perennial big belly and
a good disposition.
Riding along with Olivia I was reminded of myself at her age. I had a
17 hand sorrel gelding with a flaxen mane and tail named October's
Country Gentleman. Tober was 1/2 American Saddlebred and 1/2
Arabian. He took long steps, had smooth gaits and was a perfect
companion for my all day excursions in the hills of Marin . I loved
to head out in the early morning and just let a trail beckon me. I learned
my geography from the back of a horse.
Olivia spotted a rattler hunting its prey, we saw lots of mushrooms,
antelope, mule deer bucks and does, elk poop and a couple of white tail does.
Olivia pointed out the funneled webs a spider that made its home in
holes in the ground. From atop Cactus I could look down thru the web and see
the holes brown resident spider - looked to be about 1 1/2 inches across
from the tip of one leg to the opposite leg. The grass hoppers were jumping around.
The cactus was looking green, the thistles had dried up and the grass
had greeneed up after last weeks rain.
We saw many different kinds of hawks, lots of meadowlarks and bugs of all
sorts. The clouds started coming in and the wind picked up so we headed
back to the ranch.
