To Live's To Fly

by Townes Van Zandt


Been out riding Reno multiple times a week, and have fallen more and more in love with riding again. Being outside and hanging with such a gentlemanly creature, learning new things, galloping and spinning and climbing ridgelines -- it's all so much fun.


I think I wanna be a cowgirl when I grow up!

On a related note, if you have not seen the documentary Buck yet, about the stellar horseman, I highly recommend it. Natural Horsemanship has totally absorbed my mind the last few months, and Buck is one of its premier statesmen. Learning to foster partnership instead of brutally imposing one's will on a horse is a relatively new philosophy in the equestrian world, one long overdue.

Six White Horses

or, how I spent my summer....

First of all, I saw my heroes Gillian Welch and David Rawlings perform this song in person this weekend at the Bluegrass Festival and it was may-jor.


But anyway, this summer was momentous for me on many levels, chief among them due to the fact that I strapped on my Justin roper boots and started horseback riding again after a 20 (!) year hiatus.

Meet my new besties, Reno and Z. (Dirtier than I've ever seen them thanks to the rain yesterday and their favorite past time...)



Reno is a red dun Quarter Horse and I adore him. Total sweetsie. He is my main guy. I'm just riding for the sheer pleasure of it, starting basically from zero in a western saddle and bitless bridle and hoping to be mainly a trail rider once I am back in tip top shape. So much has changed in the horse world since I was a kid riding, and now there's something wonderful called Natural Horsemanship that I am a rapturous student of.

Life in the saddle is something I hope to never give up again! It's the perfect combination of so many things I love and it's also an unparalleled opportunity to build a relationship with a gorgeous, strong willed creature. Being able to feel to your bones the fact that an animal is giving its all and that you are communicating and moving together is incredible, exhilarating, and simply everything.