The Chronicle of the Horse
THE EQUESTRIAN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
RED ROCKS THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME
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PROFILE:
THE MANY BRIGHT SIDES
6
of CHARLOTTE BREDAHL
SHOW OFF YOUR HOBBY
WITH HORSEY HOME DÉCOR A SUPPLEMENT TO THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE
WAYS TO START SPRING STRONG
HOW TO RIDE A REINDEER
LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS Seeing The World With
“Life Between The Ears” Contributors to the “Life Between The Ears” social media accounts transport us to the world’s most interesting and beautiful places—all viewed from the saddle. Each issue, we share a few of their images.
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SARA KLYMKOWSKY/@THAT_URBAN_COWGIRL PHOTOS
KHÖVSGÖL PROVINCE, MONGOLIA
Yes, this should technically be titled “Life Between The Antlers.” Sara Klymkowsky spends her weeks in New York City working in private equity, but in her time off she’s passionate about traveling the world—especially on horseback. She’s ridden in Kenya, Colombia, Patagonia and Brazil, and she completed the 2015 Mongol Derby. It was during the Mongol Derby that Klymkowsky made friends with Erik Cooper, who helped her return to Mongolia in 2017 to visit with a family in the Tsaatan tribe. “Erik has an incredible ability to forge deep friendships around the world,” Klymkowsky said. “The herders in this remote area of northern Mongolia depend on their reindeer for many aspects of life, and reaching their remote home requires at least a two-day horseback ride and a climb through multiple mountain passes.” Klymkowsky’s group followed the paths that the reindeer herders use to reach their winter camp. “I loved this reindeer. He was fast and easy to manage, quite agreeable in all,” she said. “It took us about three hours to climb to the top of an incredibly rocky hill, that the majority of horses would never be able to make the top of, to look over a huge valley below—and a subsequent three-hour haul back home! It made
it incredibly clear how difficult the life can be for these herders. “We spent just a couple days with the family because the weather turned to heavy, wet snow suddenly on our fourth morning and then torrential rain,” she added. The group used help from the Mongolian family and surefooted Darkhad horses to trek out over swollen river crossings and make it back to the steppe. And what’s it like to ride a reindeer? Oddly comfortable, Klymkowsky said. “Riding reindeer is a truly unique experience. They glide over the boggy, rocky terrain with a simple click, click of their hooves. Where horses would stumble or sink, reindeer float. “These gentle animals are also quite fragile and much more narrow in the withers than horses, so when mounting them you must be very careful not to injure their backs,” she continued. “They are incredibly soft, quiet creatures.” When she’s at home, Klymkowsky looks through the ears of her horse Napoleon in North Salem, New York, where she mainly trail rides and foxhunts. C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M
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LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS Emily Neville grew up riding, and in the last few years she’s been competing in competitive trail and endurance. “We do compete, but it is mostly for the deep sense of accomplishment and pure fun of it!” Neville said. “We spend lots of time conditioning on the multitude of trails we have outside our door in central Alberta. Then we ‘compete’ in several 25-mile rides throughout the summer.” This photo was taken in Waterton National Park. “We were lucky to get in when we did, as this trail (and most all trails in Waterton, actually) was closed days after due to the forest fires,” said Neville. In the photo, Neville is riding Bravado’s Sela, a 20-year-old Arabian. “Something unique about her is her birdcatcher spots; she has white polka dots that change every year,” said Neville, 19. “I found ‘Sela’ quite miraculously after a nightmare with a young horse. She easily and quickly restored my confidence in riding and horsemanship, which had been diminished previously from the nightmare horse. “She is 20, but she thinks she’s 5! She loves the trail; she was born for the type of riding I do. I can’t believe her age, and neither can anybody else—I think she’s getting younger,” Neville added. “She loves to go but is so steady and rock solid.”
EMILY NEVILLE/@_EMMIIILLYYY PHOTO
WATERTON LAKE, ALBERTA
DUNFANAGHY, IRELAND
CHRIS BOGUES/@CHRISBOGUES PHOTO
Chris Bogues would spend his summer vacations from the National University of Ireland Galway working as a trail ride leader and riding instructor at Dunfanaghy Stables on the County Donegal coast. “In the winter months I try to get out hunting most weekends, and over the past three years I have competed in show jumping for my college,” said Bogues, who graduated from university in the spring and transitioned to working full time at Dunfanaghy Stables. Dunfanaghy is a former fishing port on County Donegal’s northwest coast, on Sheephaven Bay. “[This is] just one of many scenic viewpoints we have along the way,” he said. The horse in the photo is Snowdrop, a 5-year-old Irish Cob. “She is one of many trail horses we have at the yard, and what I like about her is that she has a lot more get up and go than your usual cob,” said Bogues. 80 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
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DENALI WALTERS/@DENANIMAL PHOTO
RICK DAHMS PHOTO
Sharing Life Between The Ears
KILAUEA, HAWAII
Denali Walters works at Silver Falls Ranch in Kilauea on the North Shore of Kauai, Hawaii, leading tourists on trail rides. “Silver Falls Ranch definitely has a special meaning to me,” she said. “Not only is it my favorite job that I’ve had to date—taking people horseback riding in Hawaii all day, how could it not be—but the people here have become like family to me. There are a handful of my coworkers that I have developed very good and long-lasting friendships with. This place and the people will always hold a special place in my heart.” Walters has ridden her whole life and grew up outside Seattle, showing in local hunter/jumper shows. After graduating from college, she spent some time figuring out what she wanted to do for a career. “My mom is a flight attendant, so I’d grown up traveling with her, and Kauai was always my favorite place to visit, but oddly enough I had never ridden in Hawaii before I started this job,” she said. “I knew, once I figured out living here was attainable for me, that I wanted to be a horseback trail guide. I have lived and worked here for about two years now, and I love every second of it.” Walters rides in a western saddle for her trail rides, but she also takes English lessons. “I am involved with Garden Island Equestrian, a group that is really making a name for the English riding community here on the island, so hopefully I’ll be back to competing on a small scale again soon,” she said. The palomino ears belong to Hula Girl, a 14-year-old Haflinger-Quarter Horse cross. “What I love about riding Hula is she has a lot of life and personality,” said Walters. “She is a very solid horse, willing to go into any terrain at any pace, and is incredibly surefooted as well as very easy and comfortable to ride. However, on occasion she can be a challenge, which is great because it keeps me on my toes while riding.”
Since 2008, Life Between The Ears founder Kristine Dahms has posted stunning photos shot by riders in all corners of the world with one hand on the reins and the other on the shutter. Dahms mines photos with the hashtag #lifebetweentheears, contacts the original poster of the image, then features the photo, complete with educational details about the place that’s portrayed. Life Between The Ears photos appear on a LBTE Facebook page, an Instagram feed, a dedicated website (lifebetweentheears.com), a Twitter feed and a Pinterest page (all under lifebetweentheears account names). Dahms—who lives in Vashon, Wash., with her Welsh Cob, mini horse, pygmy goats, two dogs and two cats—rides dressage and takes quite a few photos herself on the picturesque Vashon-Maury Island. Dahms has taken some of the Life Between The Ears images from cyberspace to print, creating three lines of greeting cards with selected photos from her social media pages. A portion of the proceeds from the card sales goes to the Equine Land Conservation Resource (elcr.org). Cards are available at lifebetweentheears.com/retail.
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