Monday, March 10, 2008

Saddle Up!

Any equestrian worth his saltblock will tell you that March is a terrible time to start blogging about one's horses. Though it hasn't snowed in several weeks, the Barbs of In the Night Farm remain swaddled in two inches of winter hair, their manes tangled by raging wind, and their minds set on a good roll in the mud after every rain. They are, at the moment, somewhat less than photogenic.

So, why start now? It's not because I'm bored at work, or even because I just like to hear myself type. There are two reasons: First, Daylight Saving Time arrived on Sunday, which means training season has officially begun. After nearly eight weeks of doing nothing with the horses except murmuring endearments to them as I trudge through the drifts, draining hoses and tossing hay, my round corral is finally dry and ready for action.

The second reason for starting this blog now is that I've had two requests in the last week alone, both from complete strangers, to see something online about the Barbs. Sure, I could post the website that currently languishes on my hard drive, but blogging is free...and training horses is a journey that can't be chronicled properly via a more static medium.

Here, I'll record my forays into horse training, endurance riding, and equine history, particularly with regard to the Barb Horse. The horses are the freeway, if you will. But knowing me, I'm likely to take a few side trips into my other passions -- organic gardening, vegetarian cooking, and writing fiction.

Some people say I'm too goal-oriented, too driven, perhaps even obsessive. Well. You know those people who are content to come home from the office, grill a cheese sandwich, and watch television until bedtime? I'm not one of them. I'm proud to live by the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote:

The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companions slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.

At In the Night Farm, it's all about the journey. You're welcome to come along for the ride.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say, and viewing your photos, too.