Perfect 10! Mother’s-Day-Dream :))

Perfection!

How many horse people can say that?

About their horse?

About their ride?

About their trail access?

About their horse-and-child motherhood?

I can — and I think, after fiftysomething horse years, I’ve earned it :))))

DawnHoof

My first horse, Rebel, in Western tack. I was the only Western rider at the English barn in Pacific Palisades, CA., where I boarded him — thankfully adjacent to endless trails for our adventures :))

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Think about it.

Horses draw people from every walk of life.

Barrel races.

Thoroughbred races.

Rodeo.

Jumping.

Eventing.

Dressage.

Vaulting.

Roping.

Reining.

Carriage driving.

Trail riding.

Endurance riding . . . 

Marci and Gem at Coso Junction 50-mile Endurance Ride

There are disciplines and breeds available for every type of human personality within the great umbrella of “Horses”.

My passion has always been to get out — hit the trails — cut loose — and experience the harmony and freedom that riding a good horse out in Nature offers.

As a farrier for more than thirty years, I’m a horse pro. And I’ve witnessed lots and lots of horse/human relationships.

I’m always happy when a horse and human are well-matched. When the needs of the horse and the goals of the human seem to line up. Mutual satisfaction oozes from the contentment of both.

Good vibes rule the day . . .

Horses and riders in Waimanalo, Oahu (Hawaii) caught by my camera while enjoying the day :))

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Yet this is not always the case.

Sometimes, a person acquires a horse that just isn’t up for the intended purpose for which that person dreamed of.

Perhaps physical limitations prevent the magic from aligning, in either horse, or rider.

Perhaps temperament — the horse is nervous and spooky and won’t settle nicely in to what the owner wants to accomplish. (Or the owner’s temperament is disparate to that of the horse.)

Maybe a trail rider can’t find a stable for her horse that’s near a good trail network.

Or accident, age, or injury interrupts the flow.

So many things can get in the way of our horse dreams!

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So when everything goes well.

When horse and rider emerge from winter hiatus, like my mare, Fae and I, yesterday, and merge as one in absolute perfection — rider take note!

For this is not a “given”.

There is no guarantee that the mare I bred twentysomething years ago will still be sound and willing and ready to hit the trails with velveteen smoothness, responding moment-to-moment, to my slightest cue.

Our ranch, at 5.500′ elevation, is here in the Southern California Los Padres National Forest, surrounded by peaks and ridges raising as high as 8,000′ (Frazier Park area). Our location is off the infamous Grapevine section of the I-5 Freeway, about sixty miles inland from Santa Barbara and Ojai.

We get rain, snow and storms in the winter here, making the ground saturated or frozen, so we only have about a May – November riding window to get out and enjoy our local trails.

Once the muddy winter ground dries up, I start conditioning the horses by galloping them down in our big level corral, about an acre in size. They buck and spin and cavort, running off winter’s nervous energy, building wind and muscle which has laid dormant over the past five or six months.

The first great day to ride presented itself yesterday — a day off work for me, and temperatures up to the 50s. (That beats the 30s and 40s!)

So I pep-talked myself, “You can do this, Dawn!” I wrapped my neck in two cashmere scarves, donned boots and gloves and headed out to the ranch to ride!

For my first ride of the season, Fae, my homebred Appy/Shire cross mare — mother of Aria and Laddie (daughter of my original mare, Fanta — see beach ride photo of Dawn with daughter Ella, age 5) — was today’s mount of choice.

(The others are great, too, Aria and Laddie — but I did have to choose, and Fae won today’s lottery :))

Coming out of winter there will surely be newly fallen pine trees across the trail that we’ll have to navigate around. This happens every winter, especially a wet winter like we had this year, when winds topple trees from their earth-sodden roots.

And Fae is a good choice to preview any stitcharounds that will be needed because of the fallen trees.

‘Malibu Riders’* Horses on trail in Zuma Canyon, Malibu — *a trail riding operation

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Prepping a horse to ride is not unlike preparing to take a toddler to the market on a shopping errand. You don’t just throw them in the car and hope for the best. You consider their needs, and plan for them, accordingly.

I accommodate Fae’s wants and needs before, during and after the ride. In return, she willingly carries me and responds to my most subtle aids.

Before we go, after galloping off any nervous edge or energy she might have, there in the corral, she gets to graze on grass that grows nearby. Yum!

Then I lead her to the hitching area, where she gets two scoops of alfalfa pellets to fill any hunger, and make her feel loved and cared for.

After she’s groomed and the pad and saddle go on, she gets yummy horse cookies to help her breathe, ease and relax as I adjust and snug up her girth.

Then, I bring out the bridle and place the reins over Fae’s head. Fae knows the drill. She opens her mouth, lowers her head and dives for the bit with moving lips as if to say, “Yes! Let’s get out and go!”

More cookies reward this willing behavior.

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Of note — my wonderful handyman husband made me the very best wooden mounting block about a decade ago.

Having worked in Hawaii shoeing horses, flying back and forth from LAX (Los Angeles) to HNL (Honolulu) for two weeks out of every six weeks over the course of fourteen years, I had opportunity to travel back in horse time to a simpler way of living.

Over there, in the Islands, big wooden mounting blocks like the ones at stables when I was a kid, are still in service. I took measurements, and Rick reproduced one for me :))

So leading Fae to the broad, three-step mounting block, and climbing onto her large frame into my secure Western Australian saddle, was a breeze.

Horse art on the side of a wooden mounting block at a stable in Southern California

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Leaving the ranch, we swing into a walk for the five-minute trek to the narrow forest trailhead gate — a technical and difficult obstacle that Fae allows me to open and close expertly, while still mounted — no small feat!

(Many horses have had meltdowns and incidents here — thank heaven for Fae’s intelligent skillset!)

And now we’ve entered our Forest-Nirvana!

Our forest in fall, on Aria

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One and a half hours later, about six miles covered, heading up technical-snag-ridden, scrub oak single track trail to the wide open yellow-carpeted gold-field flower-covered meadow, stitching into the wider trail, off we fly . . .

Cantering. Silky smooth.

Loose rein.

Hips following hoofbeats, flowing in unison.

Horse and Horsegirl’s Paradise!

Where two become One.

Whispering praises, “‘Atta girls!” and “Wows!”

To the horse.

To the movement.

To the intuitive connection between us.

To the virgin forest.

To the pristine day.

To the horse I bred and raised and trained —

And twentysomething years later,

Still meld with,

Still One . . .

Fae tree shadow shot on Mt. Pinos

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I’m a bit sore in my legs and lower back today, but that’s already loosening up. A small price to pay for Perfection!

(For a riding Pep Talk, see my posts, Boot Up and Why Ride?)

So I’m here to encourage you horse guys and gals —

Time to get off the couch,

Get on those boots,

Grab out your horse,

And RIDE!

:))))

DawnHoof

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Fanta, Fae’s mother (dam) in Malibu —
Mamma Dawn with daughter Ella on the run!
Enjoying Life!!! (1993)

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Copyright 2024
Photographs: Dawn Jenkins and family archives, Marci Cunningham endurance photo

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Please come over to Dawn’s Life blog — Journal of Dawn —
for Strategies and Insights into the
Journey of Life.

  Find out more about Dawn’s HoofCare Services and Soul Horse Rides in the
Frazier Park Outback of Southern California :))
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