Weird Bird Alert, and Good Ride
Jun. 30th, 2004 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseThere was a flock of unusual birds in the arena tonight--four of the coloring below, and one greyish-black one (female)? Couldn't find them in the bird books. Must discover that they were. They were about the size of grackles--same sort of tail, and black bodies. Vivid yellow throats and chests that made me think the yellow-headed blackbirds had blown in again--they always arrive with the monsoon (which is teasing but nowhere near us at the moment). But then I saw the heads and they were sort of grackle-y and sort of mynah-bird-y--with a dark hood, a yellow-grey stripe above the eyes, another dark stripe, then the yellow breast and throat.
They looked like a Frankenstein combo of a boat-tailed grackle, a yellow-headed blackbird, and a mutant cactus wren. And there wasn't just one--it was a flock.
Was most strange.
The weird birds flew off and the troops got their dinner, then da Pook got a ride. Happy Pook! Two rides in a row! And lo and behold, my persistent left-hip problem was nearly nonexistent. We were riding over poles, and working on balance in trot, putting it together piece by piece. How smart is this guy? I said multiple times, "Let's trot to this spot," and he would do so. His transitions were as balanced as I've ever seen them, and his trot is starting to allow me to balance it--up to now he's been a bit recalcitrant about letting me mess with him.
I think I was more relaxed through the hips, but I can't figure out how I managed that. I would like to reproduce it every time I ride. Please god. Mother Ship. Whoever.
So, a good evening, though I've been in work-avoidance mode and I must snap out of it.
Sidebar: This afternoon while I was staring at the computer screen, waiting for words to magically appear, one of the movie channels had The Horse Whisperer on. Classic macho wish-fulfillment Hollywood crap. Love the subtext of horses being huge, scary, and inscrutable. Definitely not the attitude of a horse person. Was particularly enthralled by the transformation of the tall, all-red Appendix QH with the tiny star into a blond-tailed, blaze-faced hunter pony on the show video. "It's not in closeup, nobody will notice!" No, nobody will notice a huge white blaze in front-row center. And ye gods--that rope the horse and make him lie down trick is such a massive no-no for intelligent, self-willed horses that it's right off the scale. Want to fry a Lipizzan into the next continuum? Do that to him. As for the human element, I Much prefer Sam Neill to Old Wrinkly Guy Redford, so Skinny Big-Eyed Frigidaire can have Redford. I'll take Sam.
What, me opinionated?
Update, later (and after several pages, go me}: I think I found the bird . Was a yellow-headed blackbird after all--probably a flock of females keeping company with one of the cowbirds. Funny, the yellowheads I've seen have been all yellow on top. Interesting.
They looked like a Frankenstein combo of a boat-tailed grackle, a yellow-headed blackbird, and a mutant cactus wren. And there wasn't just one--it was a flock.
Was most strange.
The weird birds flew off and the troops got their dinner, then da Pook got a ride. Happy Pook! Two rides in a row! And lo and behold, my persistent left-hip problem was nearly nonexistent. We were riding over poles, and working on balance in trot, putting it together piece by piece. How smart is this guy? I said multiple times, "Let's trot to this spot," and he would do so. His transitions were as balanced as I've ever seen them, and his trot is starting to allow me to balance it--up to now he's been a bit recalcitrant about letting me mess with him.
I think I was more relaxed through the hips, but I can't figure out how I managed that. I would like to reproduce it every time I ride. Please god. Mother Ship. Whoever.
So, a good evening, though I've been in work-avoidance mode and I must snap out of it.
Sidebar: This afternoon while I was staring at the computer screen, waiting for words to magically appear, one of the movie channels had The Horse Whisperer on. Classic macho wish-fulfillment Hollywood crap. Love the subtext of horses being huge, scary, and inscrutable. Definitely not the attitude of a horse person. Was particularly enthralled by the transformation of the tall, all-red Appendix QH with the tiny star into a blond-tailed, blaze-faced hunter pony on the show video. "It's not in closeup, nobody will notice!" No, nobody will notice a huge white blaze in front-row center. And ye gods--that rope the horse and make him lie down trick is such a massive no-no for intelligent, self-willed horses that it's right off the scale. Want to fry a Lipizzan into the next continuum? Do that to him. As for the human element, I Much prefer Sam Neill to Old Wrinkly Guy Redford, so Skinny Big-Eyed Frigidaire can have Redford. I'll take Sam.
What, me opinionated?
Update, later (and after several pages, go me}: I think I found the bird . Was a yellow-headed blackbird after all--probably a flock of females keeping company with one of the cowbirds. Funny, the yellowheads I've seen have been all yellow on top. Interesting.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-01 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-01 12:50 pm (UTC)I guess the girls go for that patented sneer.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-01 04:15 pm (UTC)Um ... I think they should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque!