isn't always what you get.  

Quoting a bit more from my favorite story, "The Point."  

"Oblio went to the Pointless Forest (where all things are pointless and nothing is pointed) and the first thing he noticed is that all the trees had points. In fact all the leaves on the trees had points. As he ventured into the forest he met several people including a man with points pointing everywhere (the Pointed man). The man quickly pointed out that "a point in every direction is the same as no point at all".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, is there a point to this photograph?  

Would you, if you could,  have the heart of a lion?  The brain of an elephant?  An eye of an eagle?  Maybe, we were born the way we are for a reason.  I was thinking about that this morning as I watched my dogs running through the pasture stopping to smell all that they could.  If one smelled something, the other was quickly on its heels to also breathe in the intoxicating scent.  Intoxicating is right.  Somehow, even though their sense of smell is way keener than ours, they LOVE the stinky stuff.  They then can't let it be with just that, a good roll in it is sometimes necessary to carry the perfume with them.  Bring it on home to MOMMA!  Yea, right.  Smells.  Fragrance.  AROMA.

I had to laugh (just a bit) when I brought this photograph up on my computer screen.  I thought, you know, this could be me.  That is, if I attempted to jump a horse at this stage in my life, which I won't, but that is besides the point.  I am sure the rider is in perfect form, so I am not here to critique.  Believe me, even owning six horses doesn't make me long to jump any one of them!  Now, when I was younger and more pliable, it was a different story.  There wasn't any fear then.  I mean, who died when they were eight?  Riding horses wasn't a fear at that point.  I could fall off with the best of them.  Mainly, racing up to the jump and the horse stopping.  BOOM!  Right over the front of the horse, or to the right side, the left side, or hanging upside down under their neck until letting go. I remember that the best falls (so to speak) were the ones where I leaned over their head to try to pick "their" head up off of the ground from the sweet grass they were eating.  I would literally end up sliding down the neck of the horse and landing next to their mouth as they kept munching away.  No fear there!  That was a sliding board as a child!  

Now that I am older, somebody, somewhere, somehow, whispered, "you know, they can kill you if they want to."  "What?"  The last thing I remembered was, "I am galloping!"  "I should enjoy this because I am going to die!"  "I am galloping!"  Another, BOOM!  There I laid in my pasture.  I realized, I was not dead.  Looking up I could see my other horses peering over the fence line making bets that I was in fact dead.  When they realized I wasn't, their pity wasn't on me, but the "rider-less horse" standing under the tree.  What was in my bruised mind?  Beau definitely needed a new name.  "Beau" and "Whoa" were just a little bit too close for comfort at a gut throat yell.  

More on that later.

Back to the photo!  If this was me, I could imagine my horse saying, 
"Hey Partner, are you still back there?"  
"Yes," I would say, "you first!"  
I then would bury my head down into his mane, squeeze my eyes shut, and pray. 

So glad we are partners.


:)

Below is a photograph of Boyd Martin taken at Bridle Creek Farm here in Aiken, SC.  He is a member of the United States Equestrian team.  I think I can immerse myself in the photo by looking at his power of intention.  Just look at his energy flowing from his eyes out over the mane of his horse.  The horse's mane seems to stand up with attention!  His horse is completely in tune with him, and he is with his horse.  They are one.  

You just need someone to tell you that everything is going to be alright.  

"Hey there!"  "Can you please draw the shower curtain?"   "This is a private moment!" 

Just look at this sweet guy.  Love his warm brown eyes, the white mark on his forehead.  The braided forelock and mane.  Black holes for upright ears.   Strong nose and muzzle.  Last but not least, the reflection in his shoulder from the water!  I bet you could slide right off of him!  

A champion athlete I admire.  Regal isn't he?  All knowing.  

http://www.boydandsilvamartin.com/Pages/boyd/NevilleBardos.html

We as human's process EVERYTHING in our life differently.  You may think that maybe, you found your soul mate, a perfect match, but really in the "real" world, you have to confess to yourself that we are ALL very different.  We tend to sometimes have the same ideas, the same motives, the same wants and dreams.  Or do we?  I for one thank God that we don't!  If we did, we would all be a brain surgeon (not me), a hump back whale researcher (not me), a fantastic happy clerk at the grocery store that checks you out!  WOW, now how they are capable of being so nice every time I go to the store really intrigues me.  I know their job is a tough one, standing in one place, dragging the item across the scanner, listening to some pretty nasty disagreements with customers over a penny or two.  I remember once someone telling me (I believe it was my brother who was in search of a job after law school) that everyone seems to want to KNOW what he did for a living.  Being unemployed (for a very short time) he responded with, "I paint the yellow lines on the roads you drive on."  Well, for me, THANK GOODNESS SOMEONE DOES AND LIKES IT!!!  

I remember telling my husband George that I love to take photographs of tigers.  He told me something I carry in my heart, today.  "To thine own self be true."  So, you know what?  I took my camera to the Fort Worth Zoo and captured tigers in my lens.  I would spend hours developing the prints in my darkroom.  I loved them.  It wasn't long after that he came home from work and announced he had been offered an interview at Clemson University to be the Chair of their Math Department.  He got the job and we were moving.  We arrived in Clemson.  There were large orange strange things painted on the roads.  I asked him what they were.  "He said, "tiger prints."  Clemson is home to the tigers!  OH MY GOSH!  

So, if you follow your dream, you follow your heart, their may be a path that you are on and you should be.  Tiger paws led me to a wonderful gallery.  Tiger paws, inspired my photography.  

Then, came horses, and my life changed.

OK, so lets look at the photograph below.  These are two very special athletes from the United States Equestrian team.  Now, they have a job.  They have a job that I hope they LOVE.  Do you think they know they are important? Do you think they feel the cheers of the fans when they compete?  You bet they do.   Just like all horses, they feel  our ENERGY.  This is where the horse is SO above us, it floors me.  Can you imagine meeting someone and knowing if they were a good person or a bad one right off the bat?  A horse can.  They read the energy and aura.  Then again, maybe you have.  Chills up your neck?  Oh yea.  Pay attention.  

So, are you a good person or a bad person?  This has nothing to do with your job, or wealth.  

So, to quote THE POINT 
“Well, that’s it. You see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear.”

—Nilsson, The Point (1971)

So, what do YOU see in this photo?  

Two photo's today! 

I headed out early this morning with camera in hand.  The goal in mind was to capture the dapples in the coat of two of my horses, Prince and Nugget.  Dapples have always amazed me.  The first time I saw them was about eight years ago when they showed up in the coat of my horse named Gator.  Every time someone saw him, they were in amazement of his "dapples."  Being new to horses I quickly researched the meaning.  The answer to my question seemed to be repetitive.  "Dapples appear in a horse that is in fantastic health and mind!"  "A very happy horse" also seemed to show up.  Well, that made ME happy!  My first horse to ever own has DAPPLES!  Some say too that it is genetics.  Whatever it is, I LOVE THEM!  Here my beautiful Prince that has the coat called "Blue Roan" started to get dapples this Fall with the appearance of his winter coat.  Then, Nugget started to get circle after circle after circle! WOW!  How beautiful!  I am so happy they are healthy and happy.  

Maybe, it is because they get a "D apple" a day...

Hopefully, it will also keep the Dr. away.