Paikea | una chica y su caballo

This afternoon, I took Pai down to our cottage so that she could think about having a swim. I used to swim with my Fred horse back in, what, 1987? I thought Pai might enjoy it, but, despite being a pretty phlegmatic and placid horse, she apparently thinks the water is frought with monsters. These monsters live at about the depth of her fetlocks or perhaps canon bones, and they nibble on her when she is in the water, so that she must perform her genetically-programmed Lipizzan airs above the ground in order to escape their clutches. Which is a very… dramatic thing to happen when you are leading a horse in your bare feet (yeah, yeah, I know. Bare feet).

I have a big bad bruise on my ankle courtesy of the poor delicate flower, who leaped into the monster-free safety zone that apparently exists in a six-inch perimeter around me, demonstrating very clearly that I really have to review my-space, your-space training basics with my horsie.

She let me know that boat wakes are also the devil. They. Will. Kill. Horses.

“Paikea” is the Maori word for humpback whale. You’d think she’d be better at this.

My cousin Andrew let us ride along on “Landing Day”, the final day of the lobster fishing season. He and his crew were nice enough to let me try my hand at fishing. Musta been the beer.

Chicas – quiero mostrarles mis fotos de “Landing Day”, el ultimo día de la temporada de langosta. Mi primo es un pescador de langostas, y Wayde y yo estabamos en el barco hoy cuando mi primo y sus amigos montaban las trampas. “Landing Day” es casi una fiesta (¿casi? no – ¡es una fiesta verdadera!) – los pescadores comienzan a beber cervezas a las tres de la mañana, cuando salen del muelle, y continuan todo el día. Todos están de buen humor. Quizas es gracias a las cervezas que los chicos me dejan “ayudar”, pero creo que es porque son todos muy agradables. Me dieran overoles de caucho, y guantes también, y me pusan a trabajar. Creo que estaba en el camino más que les ayudé, ¡pero tuve un día estupendo!