When Winter Softly Breathes

When Winter softly breathes

I feed the "wild" horses in the big wide open -

A reprieve from many days sledding hay to the forest

When the wind was so mischievously biting.

When Winter sighs gently,

Austere hardships seem less so. 

I sit in the snow, lingering after chores

Simply to enjoy how splendid the morning feels.

Jerry, the draft mule continues to hold his own among the Sorraia stallions.

When Winter shows tenderness

I am less unsettled on the days it does not.

Winter in the wilderness has taught me to open up to the beauty of its many moods

And Kevin whistles whether the wind howls or whispers. 

How thankful we are for this place, these horses, this life!

Since spring, Zeus, our aged Thoroughbred gelding, has been living in the holding pasture after the stallions gave him a very nasty beating.   He made a marvellous comeback, but has shown no interest in returning to the wild where those Sorraia beasts live.   Zeus had one friend among the Sorraias bachelors, Destemido, who now shares the holding pasture for the winter.   

Feeling Free

Feeling free...

Walking without a plan

  all I see enraptures me,

    nothing is mundane.

November beauty shines

even in mud.

      --L.Gerard

The Beauty of Summer is Gone - but I am not sad

Ravenseyrie mares on the Twinravens range

The beauty of summer is gone, but I am not sad.

Sorraia stallion Legado (Altamiro x Sovina's Zorita)

The sleek, lean horses are now fat and shaggy as wild equines should be at this time of year.  Torment of biting insects is gone, ample grazing remains, seasoned hay is at the ready.

Taking leave, Canada Geese

Also gone from Ravenseyrie are the Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes and all other entertaining migrants...(always a bittersweet parting there).  Deafening gale winds fill the void left by those cacophonous birds and Miles Davis comes through the speakers.  Dawn comes later - dusk comes earlier.

Taking leave, Sandhill Cranes

  

This week several Snow Bunting scouts reclaimed the bluff - their kin are sure to follow.  

Frost and forest duff make an amazing perfume.  Potatoes, garlic, onions keep well in our unheated basement.  

Centred in the kitchen/living space, the Jøtul 602 has a glowing interior, curried yellow split peas simmer on top. Step outside, sometimes the chimney smoke smells like incense - Cedar, Poplar...divine!  

Take down the screen doors and patch up the thermal boots.   Yes winter will soon come - this we all know.  So it goes.  Raise the glass, drink the wine!  Things are as they are, and feel just right to me.

Sorraia stallion Capaz (Interessado x Pinoteia)

The wrinkle "stripes" of Sorraia stallion Gosto (Altamiro x Bella)

The wrinkle "stripes" of Sorraia stallion Legado
Sorraia skin is thick and wrinkles like a walrus

Actual stripes on Belina and Rija

Bella, bi-coloured ears and mane

Altamiro, bi-coloured ears and mane

Short and sturdy, Capaz

The horses are watching several Whitetail deer passing

A lovely doe, watching me watch the horses who are watching her!

Burr season, Ousado and Fidalgo 

Silvestre and  Fidalgo

Gosto

Altavida, Zorita and Esperanda

The beauty of summer is gone, but I am not sad...every season unfurls its own delightful beauty in exquisite cyclical succession.

August Images

The August Moon Over Ravenseyrie After Sun-up

At the present time, 
Since I could bring no offering, 
See Mount Tamuke! 

Here are brocades of red leaves, 
As a tribute to the gods. 

                                            --Sugawara no Michizane

Here August is almost September and I have really no good offering for the blog - not for lack of ideas, but for an inability to compose things in a fashion that lives up to the magic of the Sorraia horses and Ravenseyrie.  So, like Sugawara no Michizane's poem, please accept these glorious August views in lieu of a proper descriptive entry in this Journal of Ravenseyrie.

I get lost in scenes like this one...when the Cedar Tree and The Sorraia seem to mimic each other:

Sorraia Stallion, Legado

It is easy to feel one lives in an enchanted place when rainbows are frequent visitors:

Rainbow over Ravenseyrie

Back in August of 2012, day two of a young Sorraia colt named Capaz (Interessado x Pinoteia)...trying hard to find an escape from pesky, pesky flies:

How special it feels to be walking out over the range and have a Raven circle overhead:

Back in August 2013 for this glimpse of the young, awkward Sorraia stallions and the older boys in their favourite shady spot with a good breeze helping keep the flies from completely tormenting them:

Bi-coloured manes on both light and dark grullo stallions at Ravenseyrie:

Light Grullo, bi-coloured mane

Dark Grullo, bi-coloured mane

A new mineral block gets delivered to the Ravenseyrie mares living on the Twinravens range - how quickly they made use of it!

August 2016 has been splendid and deserves more of a salute than what I've put together here - perhaps I will do better at composing a more descriptive article for September's journal entry...I'm thinking about it already and that's a good sign!

Sorraia Stallions - Shows of Bravado

Ousado (Altamiro x Bella)

Sweeping in just before the month's end, this journal entry will show some images and photos from a day in June when the stallions of the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve were enjoying the rain and putting on impressive shows of bravado.  There were so many different skirmishes that I found it difficult to know where to point my camera.  And in the video, as I was watching the horses a doe snuck up on me to get herself a closer look at the crazy lady sitting in the rain, with a plastic bag over her camera.  It was a lovely day!  I hope you enjoy the video and photos as much as I do.

Capaz (Interessado x Pinoteia)

Legado, Capaz and Sedutor

Altamiro and Capaz

Legado (Altamiro x Sovinas Zorita)

Gosto, Destemido and Legado

Fidalgo and Destemido

Destemido and Uncle Jerry the mule

Legado and Silvestre

Shaking off the rain

Silvestre, Interessado and Legado

Altamiro aka "Big Daddy"