Horse Eclipse

 Creation never ceases to fill my heart with awe.

This photo was shot after a thunderstorm passed over our acreage. The sky lit up with more than a rainbow; gleaming light shot out like the spokes of a huge wheel.

After further research, I discovered this phenomenon is created through perspective. Just as when you stand on a road, it seems huge underfoot but narrows as the road disappears into the horizon. 

These light beams are straight lines of light narrowing as they disappear into the horizon. 

Cool huh?

Solar and lunar eclipses are another phenom of creation. The size of the sun, earth, and moon are vastly different, yet all three appear almost identical during an eclipse. This is because of perspective as well.

This is by design. The chances of this occurring "accidentally" are astronomical. 

I started noticing my horses form an eclipse of their own. Karla is a smaller horse and like the moon, she often eclipses Mushka ( bright as the sun) as they graze. 

My grandchildren love these horses, and don't mind that Grandpa has an unmatched team. 

In fact, when I had a matched team they struggled to remember which horse was which. 

There is no identity confusion with this salt and pepper team. 

Notice how Karla is eclipsing Mushka.

Even in harness, there is an eclipse.

I hope you enjoy my concept of a Horse Eclipse. 

Horses are just one part of creation that awes my soul. My draft horses are so huge and yet so gentle. You can credit a million years of natural selection or acknowledge the kindness of a creator designing some creatures to be people-friendly. Both concepts take a great deal of faith. 

I choose to thank my Creator. 

The Continuing Saga of Karla and Mushka

 

Hello Friends-

If you follow this blog, you are probably wondering how Karla and Mushka are getting along.

We had the normal issues horses have with deciding dominance. It should not be understood the same way as humans working out a relationship. Horses have their own way. It involves a pecking order that must be established.

Once this is decided (Karla is one up in the order) they then have to decide if they like each other. Karla and Mushka are getting along great.

I let this play out before I even tried hitching them up. Many a "Cowboy" or Amish person would have hitched them the first day. I'm not that brave.

My personal strategy is to do like the horses and work out my place as a kind leader. If you work with horses they should see you as someone they can trust and turn to for leadership.

After we established Tom as a friend and leader, we moved to getting harnessed up and finally hitched.

Mushka pushed her head through the collar when I held it in front of her, revealing she was not afraid of it and in fact, extremely comfortable with a collar.

We had a few snags along the way. The first struggle is that I know nothing about Mushka and her past experience. She seems kind and calm. I found out she hates to have fly spray near her head. Unfortunately, I got brave because she didn't seem to mind being spayed until I got near her head and she went ballistic. She hauled back and tried to break free of her tie rope. This is not a good sign! This caused me to lose confidence in her. What if she tries to haul back while in the harness with Karla?

In the end, everything has gone smoothly. Mushka does seem a little prone to haul back on her halter. This is an extremely bad habit for a horse and can be quite dangerous. When we were finally hitched to my flat sled, everything seemed calm. I will say, Mushka acted a little confused. My guess is that her experience is as a single horse pulling a cart. She did not panic or resist being hitched at all, but she did not seem comfortable with a wagon tongue. She did not show fear, just a little confused by it.

All in all, I'm satisfied. It's not the same without Karma, but we will have a lot of fun with Mushka.