Moments on a Horse

                                                by Laura Crum

            We’ve all had them. (Or at least most of us who read this blog, anyway.) Those moments when magic is palpable—and a horse is part of the picture. My novels were inspired, to some degree, by my desire to portray the magic I found in horses.

Lately I’ve become more and more interested in photographic images, and (sadly for a writer) less interested in wordy descriptions. I am not a good photographer in any technical sense, but I like the feeling that I can sometimes capture in photos. I enjoy looking at my favorite photos—the ones that bring a special moment back to me. Anyway, I take a lot of photos. My husband was looking through them the other day, and he said, “All these photos are of HORSES.” Uhmm, yeah, guilty. (They’re not all of horses, but lots of them are.)

Yep, photo after photo of horses in my files—many of them taken from my horse’s back. Perhaps I could find an image that truly captured the essence of riding? So I went through my photos again, looking for my favorite shots--pictures that illustrated the feeling of delight that I have in riding a horse. Pretty soon I had a whole list of these photos. It was impossible for me to narrow it down to one or two. And this gave me an idea for a post.

So here are some photos of horseback riding. They are almost all of trail riding, in one form or another. After selecting them, I realized that the beauty of the country we ride through is an integral part of the magic of riding—for me. I will comment on what I like in each photo. Will you guys vote on which ones speak to you? There is no prize. Just the fun of discussing the magic of being on a horse, and what images convey this magic to the observer.

A lot of these are ear photos, and all of these photos were taken by me from Sunny’s back. There are several of my son on his horse, Henry, also (mostly) taken by me from Sunny’s back (which is why a few are a little bit blurry). The ones that show me and Sunny were almost all taken by my husband. All of the photos were taken in the last four years with a little point-and-shoot that fits in my pocket (or my husband’s pocket) when we ride or hike. I haven’t included any of my older photos (taken with a fancier camera—that won’t fit in a pocket), or any that were taken by my friends who are “real” photographers. This is strictly an amateur’s snapshot collection of trail horse photos. But it makes me smile, and brings back those happy moments. Let me know what you think.

I love the above photo. To me, it says it all. About riding, about the beauty of the place where I live. Ears forward, looking out at the edge of the continent, above an empty beach by the lovely Monterey Bay.

I used this photo for my Xmas card one year. Taken by my husband as he hiked with us in November on our local trails. I am on the palomino (Sunny) and my son is on the sorrel (Henry). The ridge in the background is the one I see from my porch.

Something in the drama here speaks to me, maybe the light or the body language—we were looking at sea lions surfing, and that comes back to me every time I see this photo.

This is my favorite photo of the view from the Lookout (about a mile from my front gate, via our local trails). Looking north toward Pleasure Point and Santa Cruz. Taken on a bright January day.

Riding down the local trail we call “the pretty trail” (going home from the Lookout). Taken by my husband on midsummer’s day. Really captures the lush beauty of these woods in summertime and the peaceful quality of riding two steady horses.

 This is blurry (shot from Sunny’s back) but I still love it. For me it captures my son and Henry and this lovely ride through the redwoods.

              A boy and his horse—loping along in the spring sunshine. Pure joy.

              About to go wading. When I look at this I can almost smell the ocean.

Riding down to the sea through the sand dunes. The red vest makes a good focal point.

Riding to Parker Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I love the reflections. This photo takes me right back to being in the mountains.

Crossing Aptos Creek—I love the reflections here, too, and the drops hitting the water.

This shot was taken by our friend, Bill, as we rode away from his place in the Glass Mountains. “Tiny horsemen in a big landscape,” says it all.

This is my husband’s favorite “ear photo.” He thinks it is one of the few truly interesting riding photos I’ve taken.

                                    This shot seems almost iconic to me.

                                       This has an epic Biblical quality.

This one just speaks to me of so many happy rides with my son on Sunny and Henry.

       A boy and his horse alone on a big empty beach. No footprints but our own.

                         Ok—this is not a great photo. But it makes me smile.

I’ve got LOTS more I could post, but I guess this is enough for now. Interesting how so many of them feature water. Anyway, if you have a favorite, tell me.

Halloween Fun

                                                by Laura Crum

            I hope you all have a fun, spooky (just spooky enough) day. And here are some photos I’ve taken to celebrate this season. They seem more evocative to me than words. Though I guess that's something an author should never say. Oops.

            The “barfkin.”

            Our spooky graveyard—complete with steaming caldron (thanks to dry ice) and Mario.

            Spider on my porch—real spider. Doesn’t he/she look quite Halloweenish?

            The wild grape turning red.

            My hillside in its autumn colors.

            I always think my bantie chickens have very autumnal colors.

            What sort of face should this pumpkin have?

            California fuschia with pumpkin.

            Sage named “Limelight”—don’t you love the chartreuse and electric blue together?

            A few apples still on the Fuji tree—and they are really sweet!

            An autumn rose--Lady Hillingdon tea rose.

            Lots of rose hips on the big rambling roses.

            Which remind me of this sweet poem by Cicely Mary Barker.

            Jack-O-Lanterns freshly carved and frisky.

            Jack-O-Lanterns the day after.

            Autumn trail ride—this photo is from two years ago at about this time—we haven’t had a photographer with us on rides lately. My son is almost as tall as I am now, but the horses and the landscape look just the same.

            Happy Halloween!

Grateful

by Laura Crum

As the year draws to a close, I always think about what I’m grateful for. And lots of it is obvious. My family, our home, our animals, my happy life. But I will admit, I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking my happy life is a bit, well, boring. I contrast my life with others, who seem to be doing much more, and I think that my own life, while peaceful and pleasant, is dull.

So today I really started to think of all that I have done in 2011. I started going through my photos. And I have to admit, it really opened my eyes. Suddenly it seemed as though I’d seen and done many memorable things. Maybe my life isn’t terribly exciting, but its beautiful.

In this post, I want to show you some of the lovely things I’ve been doing in the last year. I’m very grateful that these things have come my way. And I would encourage all of you to stop and look at your own photos and really take stock of what the year has brought you. Sometimes its pretty cool.

Here, in no particular order, are some things I did this year.

Swam in Lake Michigan at sunset.

Camped in the Valley of the Gods (and other lovely places in the Four Corners area) with my family.

Rafted down the Poudre River in eastern Colorado with my family.

Adopted a terrier Chihuahua cross puppy from the animal shelter.

Took many happy trail rides with my son on the trails near our home.

Listened to my husband play the bagpipes in various settings (here at our local cemetery on Memorial Day).

Looked at lots of petroglyphs with my husband and son (These are in the Ute Tribal Park, in the Four Corners Area, near the place we were allowed to camp, miles from anyone else.)

Rode on the beach with my kid and our friend, Wally.

Rode to the Lookout—two miles from our place, overlooking the Monterey Bay.

Visited the fields where my husband grows begonias.

Spent many happy hours looking at the world past my horse’s ears.

So there you have it. The list is far from complete, but it still makes me smile. Maybe my life isn’t so boring after all. Maybe my life is just perfect (for me). I hope you enjoyed the photos—I realize this is kind of a narcissistic blog post. But try this exercise yourself; you might like it. And I’d love to see the images you choose to represent your year.

Happy New Year’s Everyone! I have really enjoyed your comments and reading your blogs. Thank you to all of those who have connected with me over the past year. I wish you and yours all the best in the year to come.--Laura

Giving Thanks

by Laura Crum

The two photos above tell a lot about what I'm grateful for this Thanksgiving. There's my son and I on our most recent trail ride, just a few days ago, mounted on our two good little trail horses, Sunny and Henry, photographed by my faithful husband, who hiked with us (and our dog) through the hills near our home. I am so grateful for all of this. My family, our horses and other animals, our home here in these coastal central California hills and the trails we ride and hike. The ridgeline you see behind us in the first photo is the same ridgeline I can see from my front porch. It takes just over half an hour for my son and I to ride out our front gate to the top of the ridge, where we can see the whole Monterey Bay. And Sunny and Henry can do this without cracking a sweat. The photos were taken late in the afternoon of a beautiful November day, temps in the 70's. I smile every time I look at them. Thank you so much.

And thanks also to all of you who write to me in the comments. I appreciate your insights and I've both learned a lot and been inspired by you. Happy Thanksgiving, fellow horse lovers!