Friday, April 29, 2011

Arthur, The Beast!

Arthur is my daughter's thoroughbred that she competed with in hunter jumper for a number of years. She bought him herself for $5,000. A K-Mart special, she called him. He was cheap for a reason. He was mean and ornery and difficult to ride. But he looked beautiful under saddle and had an elegant gait.

Somewhere in his life he had not been treated well so Meredith set out to win him over. Somehow they understood each other. Soon the two of them were winning competitions against $50,000 and up horses. Her room filled up with blue, red and yellow ribbons and we got quite a collection of cups, glasses, silver bowls, blankets and other items we definitely didn't need.

But no one else -- not even her trainer -- could get on Arthur. And he maintained certain quirks. He wouldn't show after 3 p.m. He would be naughty and bite and kick other horses. If he heard a startling noise, he sometimes would bolt. All in all, however, he was a great partner for her most time.

She was jumping another horse who misjudged the fence and she jumped off, tearing her ACL. After this she decided to only ride for fun. For awhile Arthur stayed at the barn but it was just too expensive to board him. Since we had a very large lot, an acre, she decided to make a home for him in our front yard.

We already had a small barn like shed. She ordered a prefabricated barn that we put adjacent to it. We actually had a barn raising with several of our neighbors turning out to help her with the hammer and nails part. She and her cousin Lori built a fence around the new corral which constantly fell down or was nibbled at by Arthur and his new friend, Icus.

Oh, yes. Arthur had to have a friend. Horses are pack animals and need a pack. Meredith gave me a choice of a goat, a mule or a pony. I knew the goat would escape and eat my garden. A mule didn't seem to have any charm. So I opted for the pony. Meredith found an ad in the Horse Trader for two free ponies. So she and our neighbor Jennifer Battistello, who also rode with her, went to Palos Verdes and brought back the ponies. Jennifer took Star home and put him in her back yard. Soon he was getting out and running all over the neighborhood. It wasn't long until Jennifer's mom gave Star to some other friends with a barn.

Icus was an adorable pony. The only problem -- soon he started to grow and the next thing you know he was a beautiful horse. He seemed to be half Arab and half Morgan. That's how I ended up with two horses in my front yard who are the most popular people on Pt. Dume.

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Hills & Ribbons of Pelicans

It's corny but true. The rains have left a green carpet across all the hills in Malibu and through its canyons. Many are covered with California poppies or what looks to be daisy bushes. It's the time of year to drive over Kanan Dume with your windows down to inhale the fragrances of the wild flowers. Every spring I think I shall drive to the Mohave to see the flowers that blanket the desert floor for just a few short weeks. Somehow I never find a free weekend. A fascinating phenomenon that I have been noticing in the past two weeks is a ribbon of pelicans -- sometimes 40 or more -- who fly in perfect formation, one after the other, over the ocean. They look like a graceful ribbon floating through the air. A dozen or so flew over my yard this morning, again in single file formation. I wonder how they maintain their positions so perfectly. Sometimes there are just two who fly very close together, almost overlapping yet never colliding. Better than the Blue Angels. It's marvelous that the pelicans are once again so plentiful. They were considered endangered but they seem to have made a strong comeback. Such interesting looking birds but so perfectly suited for catching their meals. Everyone is looking forward to the great weather this weekend -- in the 80s even in Malibu. I am going to the Getty Center tomorrow night for a concert by Monica Yunus with my friend, Judy Miller. Monica's father is Muhammad Yunus, founder of microcredit that changed the lives and is changing the lives of so many around the world. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work and Judy was one of his guests at the ceremony. So she is a friend of Monica's. We heard her sing another night at the Doheny Mansion and she is terrific. She already has made her debut at the Met. It's time to close up shop and go home to feed Arthur and Icus. More on them soon.