An ornery horse, a cake, and two birthdays

A couple of nights ago, I was pedalling my bicycle down Sunrise, not far from the banks of the Little Susitna River, when I saw a horse up ahead, being led by a young woman who was following a four-wheeler. It can be very difficult to focus on something straight ahead of you while you are pedalling a bike and, as you can see, I did not succeed.

I almost got the tail in focus, but not quite.

Soon, I was right alongside them and it was still pretty hard, because try as I might, I could not match the speed of my bike to the walking horse and so I was wobbling all over the place. I could see that the young woman was quite happy, though.

I recognized her, too - she had been at Grotto for the memorial and funeral for Rebekah Louise and I had also seen her at Abby's Home Cooking. It was Hayley. The young man was James. The horse was Odin.

The horse had not begun the day as Odin, but only acquired the name within the last hour or so. At the beginning of the day, the horse had carried the name, "Jake," but was also commonly called by another nickname:

"Shithead!" - Yes, Shithead with an exclamation mark. That's kind of horse he could be.

This was also the same day Hayley turned 20. Among the things she did to celebrate the day was to go rafting down the Little Su. She and her party beached their rafts near the Mahoney ranch and then she walked up to visit Abby, who just happened to be with Sh... with Jake. 

"Can I pet him?" Hayley asked.

Of course Abby agreed to let Hayley pet the horse and, as it was Hayley's birthday and Abby had no other gift handy, she gave the horse to Hayley. Abby let her know that this horse could be a challenge, and that she needed to spend a lot of time just walking it, to let it get used to her.

Abby advised her to also always let the horse know who was boss.

Hayley discarded both of the horse's earlier names and elevated him from being a shithead to a Norse God.

She has since ridden Odin a number of times, and it has mostly gone well, except for the one time Odin cast her off his back onto the ground. She does not blame Odin for this. It was an accident, she told me as I ate breakfast at Abby's yesterday. Haley was riding Odin, Jamie was leading and holding the leash but somehow dropped the leash, which then slapped one of the horse's legs, the horse got a little rambunctious and Hayley hit the ground.

Hayley is very pleased with her birthday gift.

"Ecstatic!" is the way she put it.

Whatever orneriness and high spirit there is in Odin, she plans to see to it that he becomes a good horse.

Yesterday was Caleb's birthday - 36. How could that be? I only recently turned 36 myself. Soon he turn 84 and I will be several decades dead. Caleb tried to blow his candle out but Kalib beat him to it. We then ate cake. Afterward, Melanie and I took a short hike in Hatcher Pass.

I wish I could have given him a horse, but I don't know where he would keep it if I did.

As to the essay that I plan to begin Friday, I think I did present the fact that I am going to do so very well. There are photo essays a photographer strongly desires to do and so strongly pursues and other essays that he never wanted to do at all, but then there they are and what do you do, but shoot them and hope something good comes of it.

The essay that loom falls into the latter category. It will have some relevance to one thread of the current, raging, national discussion but will not make much of a mark in it. All will unfold as it will unfold, regardless of my upcoming little essay.

Comments

[Sandi]

This horse has a pretty head and nice eyes. I like his alert expression. I'll take a shithead over a dull horse any day. While I agree with the "knowing who's boss" statement, it's a benevolent boss that is needed. An unfair or unkind word or hand and you loose their heart. I recommend the natural horsemanship books Buck Brannaman and the like. "Horsemanship Through Feel" is our favorite . I was lucky enough to have a student of Bill Dorrance work with my horse- she taught me to speak horse and my rescue "shithead" became my loyal partner. These two could be a fine couple together and there is no better thing for a young woman than to work her way into the confidence of a smart horse. The lessons in trust and honesty, confidence and discipline will stay with her for life.

[juicyfruityy]

Nice looking horse.

Happy Birthday Hayley and Caleb!

[twain12]

Happy Birthday to both...lovely Horse and so is Hayley