Ride em' Paniolo

I am not sure when, where or why but I have always had a love for horses. My first memory of riding was on the rolling sand dunes of Pismo Beach, snuggled in closely between my mother and the horn of the saddle. I was only four at the time. With the wobbly voice of a child and vivid memories of "Wagon Train" fresh in my mind, I exclaimed loudly, as the words were being pushed back in my mouth by the blustery wind, that my mother and I were in fact, riding "as fast as the wind". We were actually moving along in a slow meandering, plodding pace as if the strain of a young mother and child was too much for this horse to bear. Over the course of my youth, I had many encounters with horses and ponies alike. I cleaned stalls, brushed and fed horses just to be close to these majestic hoofed creatures and also, in the hopes of scoring a ride. My bedroom was littered with hard plastic horses on every shelf along with customer display-ribbons for horse shows that my grandfather made in his flocking and printing shop. I was every inch the equestrian without the horse. Loving horses actually led me to another love, the love of literature. During the summer our local library had a policy of allowing young readers the luxury of checking out as many books one could carry in their small out-stretched arms. I scoured the library for books on horses, selecting any reference to "horse" or "pony" in the title. As the librarian stamped and closed the copy of John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony", she thumped her index finger on the hard cover and said to me, "You will never forget this book". She was right, I never did.

As the years have passed, my taste for adventure and literature have changed but my adoration of the equine species has not. I have not had the privilege or desire to own a horse but if the opportunity arises to ride one, I do. Also, I have not had the thrill of riding a horse "as fast as the wind" but the pleasure for me is not in quickening the end of a ride but savoring the journey. Yes, the clop, clop, clop of a horse's hoof is still music to my ears and the sour smell of a horses stable is still as sweet as my memories. Black Beauty, Trigger and even Mr. Ed will always be dear to me.

The blog photo above is Fletch and I on our 23rd anniversary, February 14, 2011. I am riding Bart and Fletch is riding Nick in the back country of Lanai on a horse trail maintain by the Lodge at Koele. Until my next posting .... happy trails to you.