Hello dear friends, and welcome to another edition of the Gimli Gazette. I am ready to give you an insider’s perspective of life at Mercy Spring Ranch.
I begin with a letter from two young riders. They ask, “Do horses see color?” Yes, we do see color, but not as well as humans. We do fine with blue and yellow, but we have issues with red. God gave horses many rich ways of interacting with our environment, so I do not feel any loss from not seeing the full color spectrum. My guess is that there are many amazing colors that even humans cannot see this side of glory.
It was a treat to have Miss Mo ride me in the arena this past week. The last time that she was on me was in March. I could not help but notice that her technique was a little rusty, so I took some extra time to offer her a few suggestions to improve her riding ability. She took my instruction well; and with a little more practice (on Connor or Ladyhawke, since my time is much too valuable for mere skill building exercises), she should develop into a fine rider.
Sometimes a horse just has to run free! One of our volunteer greeters learned this lesson the hard way. I had all my tack on and was getting ready to practice with the children (one of my favorite activities). Even though I had my lead rope on me, it was loosely tied. I saw a window of opportunity by sneaking past the handler (who obviously was lulled by my innocent charm) and trotted freely across the arena.
The volunteer caught up with me after a while, but not before I felt the wind in my mane and a bounce in my gait. I felt like a stallion on the open range once again!
Some of the ranch hands noticed that I appeared to be nibbling on the helmets that hung on a fence. What I was actually doing was rummaging through some quotes on a clipboard that were written by the children for use during the upcoming showcase at this Saturday’s Ranch Family Dinner.
I was touched by what some of the children had written. Here is what one had to say:
“Gimli is the sweetest and silliest pony!”
I am pleased that this child appreciates my sense of humor. Not all humans possess her refined gift of equine discernment.
As I mentioned earlier, we are now mere days away from the Ranch Family Dinner. It will be held this Saturday, October 22nd from 3pm to 7pm. I hope to see many of you there. I will be putting on quite the show with the children in the arena.
Happy Trails,
Gimli October 17, 2022