I Hope You Like Horses (and dogs)!

This is the third of a series of posts about the vacation Mitzi and I took this month (AKA "Oh the Places we Went and the Critters we Saw!").  On this day, I again left Mitzi in the care of my friends and went out to Yarrow, BC to spend time with my friend and former colleague, Luanne.  I won't lie - as much as I wanted to catch up with Luanne, I really wanted to photograph her horses.  I love the colours and textures of horses - their muscle definition, their amazing eyes, their wonderful noses and that soft, soft spot just under their chin.  Of course, as Luanne is also a dog lover, I photographed her dogs as well.  So....I hope you like horses and dogs, because this post is all about them.

Luanne has three horses:  Haven, Lofn, and Avatar.  It was a hot day, so they were mostly hanging out in their stalls, Haven in the nearest one which also happened to be the darkest one - which meant that we kind of whistled right past him and only when I got home did I realize I'd forgotten to go back and photograph him in better lighting!  So here is my one and only photo of Haven:

Well, I hope you come back and correct your oversight!

Next is Lofn, a not-very-tall horse who makes up in personality what she lacks in size.  Her name means loving and gentle, and that she is.  Such a sweet little girl.

Are you going to come visit me?

I'm very photogenic, you know!

C'mon, quit nattering and get over here!

Yum...I really just wanted some hay.

Last, but my very favourite to photograph, was Avatar.  Avatar has the most strikingly white-blonde mane you can imagine.  The lighting and the wood in her stall, in contrast to the brilliant sun streaming through the door, made it look orange in some shots (that's Avatar's photo at the top of this post), but even with orange hair sticking up all over, Avatar is one very photogenic horse.

Avatar chowing down

Did you want something, camera lady?

Avatar's amazing mane

After I met the horses, we went through the fence to the back yard and stood underneath a weeping willow tree - itself an amazingly peaceful experience that feels spiritual in the sanctuary it provides.  As we were standing there talking quietly, Avatar came out of his stall, silently trotted across the field, and peered at us over the fence and through the leaves.  The backlight from the sun created an almost ghostly apparition:

What are you doing in there, mom?
And who is that lady with the thing in front of her face?

We were joined under the tree by Brea-ach the yellow lab.  Brea-ach means golden light of energy and inspiration, and her looks, her personality, happy lab face, and ever-wagging tail reminded me so much of my Emma.  Brea-ach posed for me for a while and then wandered off to find something more interesting to do - like chomp on a stick.

Photo-schmoto.  Sticks are much more fun. 

Sadie kept us in sight as we walked around the property, checking out the flowers and trees and birds.  But mostly, Sadie found places to lie in the shade and keep an eye on us.  I particularly like the second shot here because, while cluttered from a composition point of view, I love the symmetry of the shovels, the splash of colour from the orangey-brown planter, the paraphernalia so typically found in many a farms' small sheds.

The samoyeds found the heat a bit much, with the younger one (whose name I've forgotten, having not had a chance to photograph her) staying well under a parked truck in the shade of some trees.  The older one, Siku, thought trucks were a good place to park her butt too, resulting in this little series:

Siku!  Look out!
There's a truck about to run over you!

Huh?  What? A truck?

Very funny, Auntie Jean!

Even Siku had a good laugh about that:

Humans are weird. 

A couple more shots of the property, and it was time to leave.

Every time I visit Luanne and her little bit of heaven along the Vedder River, with her horses and her dogs and her wonderful solitude, and hear about the rides she's been doing, I wish I had fallen in love with horses much sooner and steered my life that way.  But I didn't, and it is what it is, so I shall live out my trail-riding, horse-loving fantasies through Luanne and visit her critter crew every chance I get.

Thanks, my friend, for another amazing day!