Riding A Raid

 

Don't say you weren't warned.

Vindice,

LSP

Victory Charge

You see, gentlemen, we have an objective. Take the war to the Jihad, and the Hun, obviously.

Well done, boys!

LSP

Black Cavalry

There I was in the front office, some call it a porch, when a troop of cavalry trotted by. Black cavalry, a stirring sight.

There were a few outliers, some ambled along at a walk.

Others at something like an extended trot.

And others again at a bareback hand gallop.

I like everything about this and file it under "country life in Texas."

Ride on,

LSP

Temptation in the Wilderness, Giant Donkey

In today's Gospel, Christ is tempted by Satan in the wilderness, at the peak of which he's taken to the top of a mountain and shown all the kingdoms of the world. "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it," says Satan, who continues with the proviso, "If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine."

What we see here is an inverse or anti-Sinai. On the holy mountain Moses is given the divine law, to love and worship the true God and him alone, and to love our neighbor. On the Devil's mountain we're told to worship the false God, Satan, and to indulge ourselves. The temptations begin with the latter, "Command this stone that it be made bread."

I took that as an opportunity to preach on fasting, for the first time ever, or at least for any length, and can't recall ever hearing a sermon on the subject. A serious omission; after all, if it's good enough for Christ, it's good enough for Christians, and by it we wage a kind of war against concupiscence and our disordered passions and appetites. Those of you who know what it's like in LSPland will understand that I was preaching to myself. 

After the Masses I went for a ride and one of the Troop rode a donkey, most definitely the biggest donkey I've ever seen. It was a right giant of a beast.

What a fine way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Good Horse!

I love Texas

After an exhausting round of back to back pancake suppers and Ash Wednesday Masses with Imposition of Ashes, I figured it was high time to get out in the field and ride JB.

She was looking a little skinny, which is odd because she's being fed well enough. I wondered if she was being run off her food by another horse, or possibly her teeth needed floating. Then again, some think that the soil in her pasture is mineral deficient. Maybe all these aspects are conspiring together to produce a potentially bad result. Maybe, and a process of elimination will bring us to the truth, Viz. Move pasture, change diet, get teeth checked. The first and second of these things should/will be sorted out next week, after a small ten acre fencing project. But more of that anon.

In the meanwhile, I was impressed with JB's performance -- she's beginning to get the hang of neck reining and managed decent bursts of walk, trot, canter, with fairly well controlled gaits and cadence.

There was a time when those simple things would have been major breakthroughs. Now they're pretty much expected. A testament to the horse's temper and learning ability (she put up with me) and more than a few miles in the saddle.

Well done, horse.

LSP

Riding

random dog

Sometimes being a Parson can get a little intense; you see, there's a lot of driving to Waco to visit the sick in hospitals and the general business of, by the grace of God, leading two missions to growth. All that to say nothing of selecting bad prelates for the coveted Alien Head awards. Burdensome on the mind, I can tell you.

horse that mysteriously went from $500 to $3000...

So to get back down to earth, I like to shoot and ride, especially the latter and preferably in combination (albeit Dragoon style). I find it clears the mind, keeps up fitness and gives a fine sense of achievement; after all, it's no mean thing to chart the progress of training a fast horse and count the success in the increasing pleasure of the ride.

Food!!

Speaking of which, I've felt far more confident in JB -- after last year's nasty rib-cracking fall -- and have begun to canter/hand gallop her again. She's much smoother in her gaits, with far less tendency to duck, swerve and snake-out, which is a testimony to a 'back to basics' training approach. Since December all we've really done is concentrate on walk, trot and movement around obstacles and she's reacted well to this. But that makes sense, you have to walk before you can run and patient consistency is essential to building that foundation.

JB

I suppose JB has taught me a little of that, which is no bad thing, but I'll spare you the burdensome 'horse lore'. And the reward? Increasing harmony of man and beast, at increasing speed, over the hot Texan countryside. As SBW (great blog) says, Top Result. The next step? More of the same.

Head for Home

Have a blessed Sunday, even if it's hot enough to ignite magnesium in the shade.

LSP