Logo

BLOGGIN' ALONG - Welcome


New to the Varian Arabians Blog?

Create your Blog Account

Register Now

Blog Instructions:

To READ blog posts and comments, no action necessary.

To POST comments, you must be registered. Click "Register Now" above to join.

To SUBSCRIBE to specific bloggers and receive notifications on new posts, click the "mail" icon in the toolbar above the blog (registration required).

Blog Tag Cloud

Recent Blog Posts

BLOGGIN' ALONG

Lisa Thompson
Lisa Thompson

Jeff Derby

IMG_264_20200318-135205_1
He is simply brilliant… and humble, and well-read, (and not at all hard to look at, either). He'd picked up Arizona Mac V the end of October after he and Bruce Sandifer had put on a California Bridlehorse workshop in Walla Walla, Washington, and taken him home to Colorado. There, he'd ridden him in the snow, hauled him to the fairgrounds, ridd...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Varian Arabians Major Mac V Jeff Derby WBarM Ranch
Tweet
  2504 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Andres Castano

IMG_2408
Roverto was leading a young mare across the road when I drove up. She was following politely, but would startle, flinch, at something to the right, then at the gate, then at a sound from the house. I watched this perfectly put together little bay in awe. She simply could not be any prettier. Earlier that morning, I'd stopped by the little graveyard...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Audacious PS Varian Arabians
Tweet
  2797 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

WOOLY BUGGERS

IMG_0979 Idaho Traffic Jam
Here in Idaho, there are shepherds. They are mostly Peruvian men, non English speaking, that live the entire summer out in the mountains and valleys with enormous bands of sheep, a few great pyrenees dogs and a couple of horses, roaming from place to place grazing the grasses from springtime to fall. For decades, these men have carved their na...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V
Tweet
  3008 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Get Along

WbarM
It had been a whole week since I'd even looked at Arizona. A short trip to Seattle followed by three days of intense work requirements took up every minute of my days. Finally it was Saturday. After a leisurely breakfast with friends at the Farmer's Market, I said hello to him, burying my face in his mane, rubbing my hand over his perfect back and ...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Major Mac V WBarM Ranch
Tweet
  2505 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

The Hummingbird

Ph4
 She startled me! She'd zipped right in through the big north window of the arena, stopped right in front of my eyes underneath the brim of my hat and hovered there for a few moments, looking right at me, intently it seemed. It took a second for my eyes to focus on her, she was so close. Her colors were of the rainbow, but more intense, her ti...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Varian Arabians The Horse Fellowship Major Mac V
Tweet
  3002 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Springtime

IMG_5061
Waking up in Sheila's bedroom, the sound of the cars on Corbett Canyon told me that it must be around 5:30 AM. The early light seeped through the lace curtains as I stretched my legs and imagined what the day would hold. At around 9:00 I walked Arizona to the trailer, saddled him up and walked to that big beautiful arena, saying hello to the cat on...
Continue reading
0
Tweet
  2333 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

A Break in the Weather

IMG_4725
It had rained for days…. and days. When my plane landed in San Luis Obispo, the clouds were clearing out. In the morning, the sun felt good on my back as I put Arizona's halter on and walked him down to my trailer, where my saddles and bridles waited. Scrubbing the mud from his belly, his legs, his neck, his back, I looked up and saw Mike waving at...
Continue reading
0
Tweet
  3141 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Step by Step

MikeMMfilly Kalena Mac V
December 27th, two days after Christmas. The morning was perfectly glorious. No wind, no clouds, the sun warmed my back through my jacket. I found Mike at the wash rack hosing the soapy suds off a big bay horse. "Good morning Lisa!" his blue eyes smiling at me. I'd asked him the day before if I could shadow him and watch while he worked with the yo...
Continue reading
1
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V Mike Perez
Tweet
  4135 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Quinta do Brejo

IMG_1404
"Lisa, this guy is a genius!" Sheila was talking about Jack Brainard. She had met him through the Light Hands clinic, had picked up his book, "If I were to train a horse," read it and re-read it, voraciously studying every word and practicing his maneuvers. She was a perpetual student her entire life. A year later, there we were, in her arena, with...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Varian Arabians Quinta do Brejo
Tweet
  2709 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Summer's Over

Biddle Look Out
Arizona Mac V and Roy had been hanging out in their own nice roomy pens at Varian Arabians since we'd arrived after the clinic in Grass Valley. Arizona had developed a rather large white spot on his withers, telling me that I either needed a new saddle, or a change in my padding. Possibly he'll fill out more by next year. Nevertheless, I figured Ar...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V
Tweet
  2456 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

The California Bridlehorse

42994775_1897078527038418_3749985368326275072_o
In that time between sleeping and waking I see Sheila and I in her big arena on a beautiful fall day. Mostly she is just riding her horse, enjoying the bliss, the dance that is her and her Jubilation. When she looks up and happens to see me doing something that she doesn't' like, she corrects me, as if it disrupts her dance. I focus, try to emulate...
Continue reading
1
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V Jeff Derby Bruce Sandifer
Tweet
  4023 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

It's All Good.

IMG_3125 Janet Phinney
I decided that the only thing to do was to open the window and fling my ego right out there into the breeze. My perfect young Arizona Mac V had begun to go from that contented agreeable little soul to more of a schoolyard bully. He was biting at Roy, he kicked another horse, he was pushing through the bit and was being unresponsive to me. I remembe...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians The Horse Fellowship Major Mac V
Tweet
  3163 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

New Adventures

Tollhigh Tollgate Trail
We picked up Roy and Arizona Mac V and drove an hour south and east, past a small town called Tollgate and parked in the Andies Snow Park parking area in the Umatilla Forest. We saddled and crossed the highway, finding the Horseshoe Trail trailhead. Dropping down onto the trail, we followed it through dense forest and ferns. Arizona feels...
Continue reading
0
Tweet
  2638 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Friendship

IMG_2432 High Country
​A true friendship withstands the test of time. I've known Martina for a long time. We've laughed together, we've cried together, we've held on tight to one another through our darkest hours. Her life is very busy, and to squeeze in a little time together is always a real treat. Even though she is working with three green horses this summer, s...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V
Tweet
  2789 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Water Works

Headwaters of the Salmon River
I can still hear Sheila's voice in my head. "I'll ride with David any day!" She would say, and it's not just because he's handsome and fun, or because he rides a nice horse. It's because he likes to go off trail. He likes to explore and look for challenging places. I call these rides the "Dave Thompson adventure rides." You can't be a wimp if you r...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V
Tweet
  2834 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Taylor Loop

Taylor Loop
We had no idea that this trail had become so popular. I picked up Carol and Smartie on Saturday morning and we drove down the road to the Taylor Loop trailhead. This trail is only about four miles long, but it's a pretty steep trail. We chose the easiest direction, with the steepest part on our climb instead of our descent. As we were getting ready...
Continue reading
0
Tweet
  2171 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Oregon Gulch to Fox Creek

IMG_2385
There is a trail that goes from Oregon Gulch to Fox Creek, which is right across the street from Carol's house. We decided on the shorter one, which is only about six miles I would guess, ending with a big solid bridge over the Big Wood River, which is rushing by at full force. The trail is shady and cool, following a route through the forest and t...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian Varian Arabians Major Mac V
Tweet
  2366 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Cow creek

cowcreek
It was going to be a hot day. I checked the sheep report and even though they said there were sheep in the area of the Lodgepole trail, which lay at the end of our route, I figured they would be tucked up into the canyon and not in our way. If we did run into them, it would be at the end of a pretty long ride and I figured Roy and Arizona could wor...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian major mac v Varian Arabians
Tweet
  2454 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

Bridgework

Bridgework
We had to take a little trip out of town for a couple of weeks, so the horses had a vacation out in a large pasture with good green grasses to their bellies. When we got home, we decided on a short ride at a trail I hadn't been on in over a decade. I seemed to recall that it was a little rough, but a friend had hiked it and the trail report said it...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
Sheila Varian major mac v Varian Arabians
Tweet
  2270 Hits
  0 Comments
Lisa Thompson

It's a Big World Out There

IMG_1902
Even though the weatherman said "zero percent chance of rain", we didn't believe him. The skies were black and threatening. We saddled up anyway, and zipped into our rain gear. Arizona Mac V, (Ames Perfection x Major Mac V) just turned three in March. He is pretty worldly for his age. We brought him to Idaho two years ago as a yearling and ponied h...
Continue reading
0
Tags:
major mac v Varian Arabians
Tweet
  2729 Hits
  0 Comments
    Previous    
1 2 3