Swordwhale Walking: Illustration, scrivenings & photography

In the late 50s and early 60s, what you found on TV was westerns: Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Fury of Broken Wheel Ranch, Zorro, Bonanza, the Virginian and dozens more galloped across our one greenish NBC channel each week. There are photos of me at two on a neighbor's pony, then my own brown and white pinto pony at four, a wild black pony (named Fury, of course) who had to be sold after Dad injured his back. Fury died of colic later. A horse at twelve (Saraf) who did it all (4-H, egg and spoon, dressage and swordfights), a ten dollar miniature "warhorse" named Knock'em Silly, a fey grey pony (Bazraf) who made us believe in faerie steeds and unicorns, and the wild black mare (Lor) who came to me when he passed on. A number of my horses have been part Arabian, and I've worked with several mustangs. Today I'm most interested in the nearly vanished heritage breeds, especially the "Spanish Colonial" types descended from the original horses brought here in the 1500s: the barrier island ponies (Chincoteague, Banker, Shackleford), the Marsh Tackies (Carolinas) and the Florida Cracker Horse, as well as Indian ponies and mustangs.You can find out more at: http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/colonialspanish.html