1971 to 1973
Click on image to purchase.
Experiencing nature and reading stories about the lifecycles of American Indians is who we were. Our horses were part of this mystery as well. Whom we were all together was important to us and our horses were everything. Bernie and Elton’s song Indian Sunset off their Madman Across the Water album was our warrior song.
Often, we rode barefoot. When cold we had our parents’ go shopping to buy us moccasins. We read about the history of the Medicine Wheel and experimented with our innocent religiosity.
The Medicine Wheel is based on the wisdom of the Native American belief. The four directions of nature are part of the medicine wheel circle representing the four seasons.
While riding we carried a compass to know which direction we traveled. Spring is the direction of the east which is also the time of brave eagle. Summer is the direction south which is time of trickster coyote. Autumn is the direction west. This is the time of retrospective bear in his cave or sometimes owl and the setting full moon. Winter is the direction north and is time of wise buffalo.
We were robust girls misfiled along a line of make believe. We used our imagination, developed our spirituality and because of our horses, we united these two qualities into an earthy reality.
Guys would dirt bike on old Mulholland drive. On a dare Ruff and I would hold onto our horses tight with our thighs. Hands straight up in the air, we ran our horses down the same hill ridges. Sometimes one of us would fall off our horse. I experienced falling off Sony in slow motion as the ground grasped and pulled me down fast.
In advance Ruff and I already practiced rolling and dropping in the form of tumble weeds just in case we fell off our horse. Yet I was never prepared for Sony abandoning me to gallop home without me. I would either walk home or Ruff, depending on her mood, would give me a ride home on the back of Raubie.
Mom did not like seeing my white mustang running into the corral without me. An hour later I followed home to be besieged by an unnecessary motherly scolding. I ignored mom and watched Sony eating his hay like he wasn’t guilty of anything in the world.
To Ride A Painted Pony Wild
Hudley Flipside
The Seminary of Praying Mantis Publishing
