Wildflower chasing is probably one of my favorite past times. I am addicted to their fragile color & the urgency in which they need to be captured since their color only lasts a short time as they bloom. My spring & summer are divided into their own special "seasons" that revolve around the blooming & the colors of these flowers. I am now in the height of the peak of the wildflower bloom, & am transitioning into the final blooms. Seed pods are showing on the early bloomers, & starting to show on mid bloomers. The last colors are springing forth each time I travel down back roads. My time spent wandering down back roads to find these flowers, usually greets me with some other fun faces to enjoy. One of my favorite places to wander is my Grandparents farm, which always comes with a golden, smiley, & excited walking partner. The farm also provides time spent with the farm feline family, which sometimes gives me an opportunity to catch great "family" photos. Seeing all these faces, plus all the green & the plants, is one of the great gifts that summer brings me. This year was a great year as some, that had not previously bloomed for a very long time, decided to show their face. Sometimes wildflowers can stay in seed form for years waiting for appropriate growing conditions to spring forth in. One of those characters I got to see this year is the beautifully pink Red Paintbrush flower. This has to be one of my favorite wildflowers as it is uniquely beautiful, but also so incredibly soft to the touch it is hard to believe it is indeed a wildflower.
I am so lucky to live a life in which I get to experience all this natural beauty that Mother Nature has to offer in this great province. Some people ask me why I don't leave much on holiday's in the summer, & truth be told it is because I don't want to miss this beauty. I should however, maybe add a few holiday days in in which I just send myself out to random locations to go chase wildflowers. Maybe next summer... Maybe next summer. This summer though I am going to take time to appreciate my new home.
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Over the last couple months I have had the pleasure of taking in multiple events that span over the many different ways people can have a relationship with horses & cattle. I took in a reining horse show, a multiple discipline horse show, a calf branding, & a couple rodeos. Since it is "Western Wednesday" I thought would take some time to reflect on all these disciplines. In May I took in a Reining horse show. Reining is defined* as: " Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse within the confines of a show arena." A reining horse is defined* as: “To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. Any movement on his own must be considered a lack of control…” *as defined by the National Reining Horse Association This is what you see being displayed in the first two photographs above. Specifically, you're seeing the "big finish" slide that is the pride of the reining pattern. It is an amazing site behold, & shows just how strong, along with talented, both horse & rider are. In the third photograph you see the horse I spend my Monday's learning to ride properly. The final end game of my education however is not to learn reining, but instead to learn how to work cattle. One area of this I am currently learning about is cutting horse work. Cutting is defined as: "During the two and a half minutes of work, a rider demonstrates the ability of his horse to out-think the cow with terrific short bursts of speed, the ability of turns in mid-air, fabulous foot work and coordination between horse and rider that is unexcelled in any other arena event." " It then becomes the objective of the contestant to quietly pick from the herd an animal that will give him maximum play and sustained action to test and show the ability of his cutting horse. Along with action goes the risk of penalties; out of position, reining, and many others, not to mention a severe penalty if a cow is lost back into the herd." * as defined by Canadian Cutting Horse Association As you can see the two different styles of working a similar horse in a similar area can be quite different. One is about control of horse through reining abilities, & the other actually has reining listed as a penalty. Too be good in both styles it takes great equitation skills, & lots of time to improve these skills, along with the allotted skills needed for each style. The remaining pictures above, including the top picture, display yet two more different events in which on can participate in. The two styles above would be a Tail class & an example of an English event class. A definition of both can be found on the American Quarter Horse Association website, along with the many different competition classes one can participate in. The horse competition world is varied, & each type comes with its own history that connects it to the working world it developed from. All share one thing in common that the people & horses that participate in it work hard to be able to display their talents with pride. There is something for every type of person out there, & there is tons of knowledge to learn. I am looking forward to spending much of my life learning all I can about the various styles out there. This past month I got to also take in branding (without the iron brand). It was a very interesting day as I got to see just how hard of work ranching activities can be. I got to enjoy the faces of many young calves, & watch how they interacted with all the people that worked with them. The people there worked through all kinds of weather, & it was an interesting, along with enjoyable, experience to say the least. I will forever value the things I had a learned while out there. Finally, in the last couple weeks I got to take in one my favorite sporting events, Rodeo. As I watched from the side lines I enjoyed the power I seen out of all the animals & the skills that I had seen displayed. I thought back to everything I had experienced in the past months, from the horse shows & to the branding. I could not then, nor now, understand how one is allowed to share challenging activities in such varied ways in one area but not another. There are some out there that say rodeo is not based on anything, but from my time out the branding it was made very apparent that rodeo is in fact based on a ranching history.
I won't argue that doesn't look different, because in fact what happens in a rodeo area looks different than what happens in a cattle pen. However, the difference to me seems t0 be the same amount there is between each of the varied horse competition events. It has the same amount of difference that each of those events shares with the history they are based on. Rodeo also shares in common the drive to be best in the skill sets it takes to accomplish each event. I have yet to meet a rodeo person who doesn't show respect for the animals they work with, or take any easy way to do their event that would harm the animals they work with. They show the same amount dedication to their sport, event, & teammates that I have seen displayed at horse shows. I will admit I fell in love with rodeo because it doesn't look as "pretty" as the other events. There is no doubt that rodeo is rough around the edges. However, the part that wins my heart is the way that the "rough around the edges" personality of the animals is allowed to run free in that rodeo arena. Every animal is bred, trained, & encouraged to do their best to deter the rodeo contestant from completing their job (exceptions to this would be the working horses, barrel racing & chuckwagoon/chariot racing). The sense of pride felt from the stock contractors & from the contestants can be felt everywhere around the rodeo arena. Pride in themselves, but most importantly the pride in the animals. There are people in society that think when rodeo personal discuss their animals that by calling them "animal athletes" this somehow belittles the animals. Where this thought process came from I will never understand, since I have seen nothing but empowerment come from that way of seeing the animals. By using this term they put the animals they work with equal to themselves, even the calves. This respect for equality & acceptance of the rougher side is what won my heart over, & over again. It has allowed animals to be truly what they are, & take pride in it. If you ever had the pleasure of watching cattle in a rodeo I hope you made note of the pride displayed in every animal that did it's job well. I have seen many bulls, steers, & even calves, prance around the arena as the contestant sat in the dust. The horses are always busting out of themselves with excitement to get the job done that it takes great handlers to be able to rein that horse in until it is time to be unleashed. I am very proud to be supporter of the sport of rodeo & because of this you will find me, with every opportunity life allows, up against the fence capturing the event with my camera. I was very proud in the last few months to be able to take in & capture all the events, in their various forms, that I did. I am glad to share this world that many don't get to see, & hopefully be able to tie people back to a past that wasn't long ago apart of many people's day-to-day lives. On June 21st in the wee hours of the day we welcomed in the new season of Summer. It is officially here, & everyone is excited for all the summer memories they know they are about to make. As we approach on the end of July I can't help to think how much of that summer is already past. I reflect back to how I enjoyed that first glorious day of the warm summer under a rainbow sky. I took a little drive, & had myself a little walk. I took in the beautiful golden hour as it washed over the Qu'Appelle Valley. I took in the warm tones & animal surprises Mother Nature had in store for me. The beauty of the Saskatchewan Skies & the Qu'Appelle River Valley to this day do not cease to amaze me. The tones & colors, so vibrant & rich, that decorate a unique landscape always make me catch my breath. I am very thankful that as each time I ask Mother Nature for the chance to experience the amazing views that can be experienced in this valley she is kind enough to oblige. That night I was extremely lucky as I not only caught a glimpse of two Moose calves, but I also got to catch the site of my first elk in the valley.
I ended my adventure that evening as the last of the setting sun closed on the valley by taking in a common scene in the valley, cattle in a pasture. I love watching the calves of the year explore their world. They are truly some of the most adorable creatures that I know. I count the days till when I will get to have this experience with cattle are indeed my own. Till then I will enjoy the faces I get to watch through the fences. |
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