I used to ride a Harley... my friends were bikers, my companion was a biker. I had a little, kinda ratty chopper that actually won a "Rat Bike" contest in Cruces! I had ridden it in Boulder and pretty much frozen myself when I lived there running printing presses and teaching Dressage! Anyway, a few years back, I was at a convenience store paying for my petrol when a slightly drunk guy followed me out of the store. At that moment, two guys on Harleys rode up and one was a student's husband, the other a friend from my Vet's office. They dismounted and came over, each of them giving me a hug. The drunk guy stumbled over saying, "Where's my hug" and immediately the friend's husband shrugged his shoulders and said, 'Oh, alright", and hugged the guy!! Then John said, "Okay", and hugged him! I nearly wet my pants holding back the laughter. Quick thinking, good friends are absolutely priceless.

Land of Enchantment

New Mexico is special. The land holds ancient secrets and human technologies with equal regard. We have high desert, mountains, lakes & rivers, spectacular dunes of gypsum pure & white, caves and crystals... cultures from all over the world living with respect for the indigenous peoples and ancient petroglyphs beside giant telescopes (quite fitting, actually!). Our horsemen and horsewomen ride Dressage, Saddle Seat, Western, Hunt Seat, Eventing, Trail or drive their horses in many disciplines. You can find most equine breeds here. We have state of the art Veterinary facilities, country doctors and open mindedness for alternative healing methods. We have hot springs and geothermal greenhouses. We have the Very Large Array listening to outer space. We have the vacuum tower solar telescope watching the sun. There are lots of solar powered homes and people that live in small mobile homes or rambling adobe mansions can sit over coffee at a cafe' talking about their common love of this land. I'm so glad that I live here. There are secrets under the ground here - human secrets and secrets held by the Earth. And sometimes I think that they are not so much secret but maybe more like sacred... like New Mexico is a sacred, enchanted place!

Good Lessons

We've weathered a nasty storm at Dharmahorse and are cleaning up after a week of wind, ice, below zero temperatures and constant hauling of drinking water to horses in buckets... hot mashes, constant hay feeding, double blankets and leg wraps... keeping dogs safe inside, water faucets dripping to keep from freezing solid... trying to conserve propane with thermostat at 61... rolling blackouts by electric company so the power would not go off for days!

WOW, we made it through with flying colors and feel so grateful for so many things! Just before the storm we had visitors and Majic was our angel caretaker as he gave gentle rides. Then I judged a horse show and thought I was cold, HA! Everything is relative - and I think that was the lesson of the storm. Appreciation and awareness - good lessons.