When I started this blog back in October of 2008, I'd have never dreamed how much fun it is to blog and how many friends you can make...and some to actually meet! Without the blog I wouldn't have ever met you all. And living where we do, the blog is actually a major form of social activity for me. Blogging has definitely enriched my life.
I value everyone that reads my dribble, and I'm glad to bring you some photos of our life here at the Rough String Ranch. Comments are always nice and really brighten my day, but I know how many blogs we are all trying to keep up with and there isn't always time to leave a comment.
But for this monumental occasion, you'll have to leave a comment on this post to be in the drawing for this:
This wonderful new book, Oregon's Living Legends, authored by my friend Andi Harmon has 253 pages of wonderful information and stories about Oregon's wild horses. Me and Rohan are even in the book!! There are tons of photos, maps, and artwork by our dear friend Michelle Severe. I'm very proud to offer up this copy (signed by both author and artist) for my 300th Post Give-Away!
I have a confession to make...I've lived in Oregon all of my life, born and raised here...and until 10 years ago, I didn't know that wild horses roamed our public lands. In the late 60's and early 70's when all of the struggle was happening over the protection of the wild horses, I wasn't even aware of it...and all I did was live and breath horses!
So here's the deal, to enter this contest, leave me a comment on this post telling me about how you first knew about the wild horses in America. Short and sweet is fine...or a nice long story is great too!
Contest deadline is Friday, June 4, at 9 PM. The winner will be picked randomly on Saturday, June 5.
Thank you all again for being such great followers, readers and friends!
I learned of them young, thanks to Marguerite Henry's book "Mustang: WIld Spirit of the West" about Wild Horse Annie.
ReplyDeleteOn my bucket list - to see a wild herd in real life and to adopt and gentle an adult mustang.
I learned about wild horses from Western Horseman magazine as a kid. Subscribed to that magazine for YEARS, when I had my first horse. Used my babysitting money to buy it.
ReplyDeleteOh, would love to win the book, sounds like it's a wonderful book and you are in it too, even better!!! :-D
Jane and Gilly (he thinks he's a wild mustang and Pokey thinks he's a wild ass!) LOL
HAPPY 300TH POST!!!!!!!! It's been a joy getting to view bits of your life (and drool over your alfalfa..lol) and to learn about life out your way!
ReplyDeleteReally hope that there are many more years to come of your posts and photos!!
Wild Horse Awareness...hmmm.... I'd say I've been "aware" of them for a while, but didn't really *learn* about them until adulthood, with the studies on hooves becoming public.
It was the Marguerite Henry book for me, too.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, she is responsible for my love of Morgans, too. (Justin Morgan had a Horse)
I first learned of the wild horses roaming our public lands down here when I met my husband.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a hog farm in Ohio and not until I met my husband who owns a ranch in Southern Utah did I realize people still gathered cattle horseback. Nor did I realize wild horses really still roamed our public lands.
I love the beauty of wild horses as much as I love seeing cattle on open range. I love horses, always wanted one and was never able to own one until my husband bought me Spicey for a wedding gift. However, I disagree with the way our public representatives are managing the wild horses. I don't let mine roam sick, hurt, injured and without enough food or water...And, that's how they are managed down here. It makes me feel a little disgruntled with our government agencies.
Happy 300th!
I saw wild horse herds years ago in eastern Oregon and always found them exciting. Frustrating that they have been considered a pest to some because emotionally they really do stir the mind and body. I will keep my eyes open for that book as it sounds like one I would like
ReplyDeleteI read the Marguerite Henry book as a kid (and again as an adult) and when I was a teen I heard about the adoption program but didn't know the details and couldn't have a horse anyway... I learned all the details about adoption when I got my first mustang on reassignment about 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 300th post!
300 great posts Karen! I really enjoy reading and seeing your beautiful piece of this world!
ReplyDeleteAnd all your critters too!
I first learned about Mustangs in books as a kid, I couldnt tell you which one though! I was/am a very avid reader, I subscribed to Horseman magazine as a kid, it is now Horse and Rider.I have a lot of books under my belt. Disney probably had some to do with it too! Spirit is one of my favorite movies! And that didnt come out until I was an adult, I took my girls to see it in the theater, its probably the last movie I saw in the theater too. LOL
May you have many more posts!
Congrats on your 300th post!! Awesome! We've loved peeking into your life!
ReplyDeleteI always knew about wild horses it seems. Mom bought me a book about Wild Horse Annie (who fought so hard for mustangs to be protected in the first place) when I was a kid. I cherished that book, still have it, and can't wait to read it to my daughter.
Congratulations, 300 posts and going strong. Well done.
ReplyDeleteHere's to your next 300 posts! I'll be there to read 'em!
ReplyDeleteI was an avid reader when I was a kid, and learned of mustangs through authors such as Marguerite Henry and Will James. Walter Farley was one of my favorites too. There are wildies (Canadian version of Mustangs) in Alberta and one day I was blessed to get to video two different herds near Nordegg, Alberta, which is west of Red Deer. One herd was mostly blacks, and the other herd showed strong Clydesdale influence. I have the film on my digital video camera tape- maybe if I can figure out how to get it to my computer I'll do a You Tube Video of it someday.
Wooowweee 300 posts! Thats a good number. That looks like a cool book too! I don't quite remember where I first heard about wild horses from but I do know I would love to have one someday. It's been a dream ever since I was a little girl. I mean they are all still wild horses to me, every single one of them.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 300th post! I can't remember when I became consciously aware of the wild horses on our public lands. I think growing up in Central Oregon I just always knew they were there. I use to think the reservation ponies were wild horses. I guess some of them are :) First time I ever traveled to see them was about 5 years ago when we went to Burns and to the BLM corrals. We drove all over the Steens but the BLMs were the only wild ones we saw. I went to some wild horse adoptions before that, but I'm not savvy enough to do that.
ReplyDeleteI think my first awareness of wild mustangs was when the neighboring AHPA horse rescue took in five BLM mustangs. I volunteered there as a kid and will never forget their strength and beauty -- none of them were ever tamed in all the years they were at the rescue, making them even more beautiful to me.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the milestone! It was a Marguerite Henry book for me too but it was Misty of Chincoteague. Someday I'm going to make it there for the annual pony swim.
ReplyDeleteI learned about wild horses in both Canada and the US when I was just a kid. My dad used to gather them when HE was just a kid. I've learned a lot more about them lately by reading what you've written though. I'm glad I found your blog.....or you found my blog and I hope someday to actually get to get together!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I probably could have quoted most of "Misty of Chincoteague". I would have given anything to be Maureen Beebe. This was my first exposure to wild horses and as a child I always wanted to go to NC for pony penning day.
ReplyDeleteLater, when I moved to SC I learned about wild horses called "Marsh Tackies" that have a long heritage. The Marsh Tackies are also descended from Spanish horses.
http://www.marshtacky.org/
http://livingadream2.blogspot.com/
Well you didn't say wild horses of the west, so I'll include my very first introduction to wild horses as my first visit to the Chincoteague Islands as a young girl. Seeing the rugged looking wild horses grazing beside the ocean was such an amazing experience....knowing that they were noone's backyard pets.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I couldn't wait to read the books!
What a beautiful book. I never knew there were wild horses in Oregon until you mentioned it on your blog.
Hey do you think that my mare Apache might have some mustang in her blood? Everyone that meets her says that and she does look it. She sure is one smart cookie on the trail, too.
Congrats on your 300th post. Here's to another 300!
~Lisa
Grew up on horses, but am without now, hoping to have another one or two in the future.
ReplyDeleteKarenTX
Congratulations! I always enjoy reading your blog and seeing your pictures.
ReplyDeleteI can't really remember when I first learned about mustangs - I think from watching old Westerns and possibly also from the Margaurite Henry book.
I'm not sure how I knew about the American wild horses but have since I was quite young. I really started to pay attention when it became public knowledge about how they capture and ship wild horses, that would be thanks to the efforts of your Wildhorse Annie. I was horrified by that knowledge and think it so sad that there is still such controversy over the Mustang. I will hold my own counsel on my opinion but I think you probably know which way I lean.Congrats on your 300th I look forward to the next 300.
ReplyDeleteAs a horse crazy kid living in the city and watching all of those westerns on TV, I always thought that there were wild horses out on the range. As a yong adult I always wanted to get a wild mustang to tame, hasn't worked out yet. Now that I am in my late 40's and have horses(one of them is half mustang)that are barefoot I look more to how the mustangs live to better understand my own horses. I may not have a full blooded wild mustang but my hart will skip a beat when I see one. Some day...
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your 300th post!! Blogging has been a great way to meet new people!
ReplyDeleteI first learned about Mustangs when I was very young, probably around 9 or 10. There used to be commercials on t.v. about adopting Mustangs and I had always dreamed about adopting one. For the last 6 yrs or so I have been considering it and even went to a Mustang adoption in our area. But it wasn't meant to be at the time. Because of blogging, I met Tracey, who helped me adopt my very own Mustang filly. If I hadn't met Tracey, I don't know if I would own one now, or if it would have even happened anytime soon. I am very thankful for having been given the chance to adopt one of these special horses! I am loving every minute of it!
As a kid I thought there were always wild horses everywhere. One time I was up in the mountains with my family and we came across a couple horses that must have gotten loose from somewhere. I just assumed they were wild.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, did you receive the horsehair key chain I sent after we chose your name for our heifer? You probably did, but I worry if I don't hear anything.
I have heard about the wild horses in all the western magazines and books that I read and now from your wonderful blog!
ReplyDeletehello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
ReplyDeleteWow congrats on your 300th post! I don't post here often but I love reading your blog every chance I get. I too have grown up in Oregon but started learning about some of the wild horses here as a kid when I collected Breyer horses. I remember when they came out with the Mesteno series. Most of them had special little tags on their necks that told a little story and as soon as I saw that they lived in the Steens Mountains in Oregon I was excited. Gorgeous wild Spanish horses in my own state! I remember spending all the time I could reading about and researching them and dreaming I could go see them. I still haven't made it over there but I'm only 27 so there is still hope. At the mother's day trail ride this year I rode with a group of people and one of them was on a cute little Kiger named Billy. He was quite a bit smaller than the other horses but I've never seen such a small guy with so much heart and stamina. Billy gave me a new appreciation for the breed and I can't wait until I can own one myself someday.
ReplyDeleteDribble indeed! I thoroughly enjoy your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I was a horse nut as a kid and through my teens, and as I read everything I could get my hands on about horses, I would read articles in horse magazines every now and then concerning the wild horses out west. They have an unbridled beauty of their own.
Does anyone remember that gorgeous black and white poster we could buy as school kids of a mare cradling her foal's neck? It was from the Wild Horse Sanctuary if I remember right.
ReplyDeleteJust googled it and it's still available!
So, powerful image. I don't remember any other posters I had hanging on my wall.
Congrats on 300! Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteNow in the NICK of time-
My Daddy and some friends went to Arizona and NewMexico in the early 60's when I was but a wee tot, and captured ten wild burros. He brought them home and he and I 'broke them'. Which means, he put them on a long rope, tied me to a cross tree saddle and I rode them until they stopped bucking. There is a picture on my Facebook page and maybe one on my blog, of me and the donkey he allowed me to keep- Cha Cha.
After that I bugged him to go and get me a mustang. He did, but it was dangerous, it kicked my Mom, so one day she got up earlier than everyone else and sold that horse to a trader, before my Dad was even out of bed! Boy was he mad- me too! I really liked that broncy sumbitch- and he never had kicked me!
Congrats, Karen, on your 300th bogger-versary! I enjoy what you have to say and hoping you enjoy my once in awhile comments, too!
ReplyDeleteHaving lived here in this valley for 30 years...only a few miles from the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Center here in Nevada. I used to witness many of the stallions with their mares coming in to eat our grass or hay. (I'll always remember my young son's futile attempt to get a rope on a mare..almost lost his rope!) Often times were you'd be likely to see a small herd closely running through the hills when you were out traveling, hunting or such. They were coming down into Reno quite often then for awhile ...'till people started complaining about having them on tearing up their grass and afraid somebody was gonna hit them in the dark, and now the city has grown so much people don't even know they're out there. Anyway..thanks for your love for the Mustang and the burro.
Reading the book by Margarite Henry. I remember the saga of Wild Horse Annie and thinking how courageous she was. (By the way, I love Rohan and am so happy he is in the book!)
ReplyDelete