Birds of Wisdom

I'm not sure what started my fascination with owls. Maybe it was when we cleaned out my great-grandma's apartment and found her decorative owls. Or maybe it was that single owl ornament that decided our style. Whatever the catalyst, I love all things owl.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have owl figurines or pictures all over my house. Most of the owl tokens I have are delegated to our Christmas decorations. Including this year's Christmas present from our landlords: a red throw blanket with an owl tie. Ironic did not even begin to describe it. My husband's response, who does not share the love of owls, was, "That's not even funny." (The landlord does not know I like owls.)

I recently learned Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom whom I am named for, had a companion owl. Fitting, I think. I told the DH this alone should justify my fascination with owls. It is also why I am very excited about The Pretty Pauper's 5-0 giveaway of this little gem. I would love to sport that necklace and see the DH roll his eyes in amusement.

Horsing Around

"The love of a horse is the same as the love of a human being. If you've never loved a horse you would never understand." ~ Unknown

(Quote lifted from my Dad's Facebook)

There are few things the DH and I want more than a quiet place in the country. We both grew up in small towns surrounded by farmland and mountains. We're in a suburb now, but are constantly making plans for the future. 

For the last few years we've watched Dad train his paint, Scout (pictured above), who he bought at the church auction when Scout was 10 months old. He didn't really know anything about training a horse as most of the horses we've had were already broke. He called his brother-in-law and was introduced to the Down Under Horsemanship method. After a lot of sweat, tears, and patience, a clinic with Clinton Anderson, and countless Walkabout Tours, he now has the best horse I've ever seen.

The DH and I have had the opportunity to attend a few tours with Dad (two for me, one for Jason and both of us went to the clinic Dad was part of). After the Walkabout Tour in Redmond last weekend, we were once again bit by the horse bug. Only this time, the DH decided to do something about it...

(Pictured, me desensitizing Pearl - 3-yr-old quarter horse palomino mare - to a tarp that had been flying around spooking her. Please note, this is not step one of desensitizing. There was an hour of desensitizing around her and on her less sensitive spots before I went anywhere near her face.)

We are now mucking stalls at a horse barn once a week in exchange for a chance to do some ground work with a couple of the horses. We've had the Method pounded into our brains, now we have a chance to put our head knowledge to work. 

We realized at the end of day one on Saturday we have a lot yet to learn. We called Dad and got some pointers from him on things we were having trouble with. Sunday, the day the picture above was taken, went much better and we're looking forward to working with her again this evening. Once our technique is honed we will split off and groundwork separate horses. 

If nothing else, we have patience in droves and Clinton Andersonisms to get us through.