I've never started a horse from the very beginning before. It's a little scary, because I don't want to mess things up. In fact, I've dragged my feet about really working with Toby because I've been filled with indecision and a sense of just plain old scared. After all, I'm no professional horse trainer, I tell myself (several times). What if I do this wrong? What if I do that wrong?

So, what do you do when you don't have the money for a professional horse trainer? And this is something you've always wanted to do besides? Well. You just trust your knowledge. And your intentions. And you start.

And it's very exciting.

I find that during this training process, in the midst of all that thinking and little wheels turning about where my weight is, keeping light hands, open the rein and invite him into the turn, use that outside leg to bring his hindquarters around the circle, how am I going to help the horse learn this or that, etc., etc., etc., I am tapping into something much deeper.

An iridescent pool full of dreams.

An ancient art form.

And ... to my utter delight ... something about not being separate from anything, but a part of it all.

Way cool.

Flickr photographs. I love these extraordinary photos of horses from Ride n' Fast & Take n' Chances. willis.dewitt and UGAclint have captured the essence of the Sangre de Cristo peaks.