(I didn't take that picture, it was in this here machine at the Taos Libary) Well the Sun's up n' shinin' and the weather is FINE here in del Norte. I finally sent out my "big request" and now it's just wait n' see what happens I suppose.
I'm gonna' do this thing one way or ta'other, 'course it shor' enough would be nice havin' some travelin' companions, even though they be "virtual saddletramps", it'd make it a might less lonely out on the road there. Them trails can get mighty dusty n' dry.

From The Horses Mouth?

Howdy to one and all,
So here's the idea;
I'm plannin' a trip, I should say "We, are plannin' a trip", sort of a working journey, into the past.
In the attached photo is Louie (The Lip) a paint Horse of, no doubt, mixed ancestry. I'm the one in the hat. (on the first page)
Louie wants to go ridin' this summer, he's thinkin' June would be nice.
Ya' see Ol' Louie wants to visit some of the country, he wants to wander
out on the plains. It seems that Louie has, for a spell now, harbored a yen to experience what life was like for some of his ancestors. (We figure this trail would be travelled in 2 segments, one this year another next summer)
So this here's what he wants me to do while he does the hard part of carrying me on his back.
Louie wants me to write/blog about this journey, take lots of photos (Kodak Z1012IS),
and compile a book. Now the exact details of the book we have yet to work out, perhaps something like a graphic novel/travel journal (with music and song?) I'll get back to that some other time.
Hey, maybe Kodak would pitch in and sponsor this here saddle-tramp's
travelin', now THAT would be kool.
That also brings me to the point of this missive.
On the off chance that Kodak won't pitch in to sponsor this here project,
there is something you could do: Help sponsor me n' Louie's travelin'
act/Art project, it wouldn' take much. If you see some merit in this project just hook up wih my paypal account (markintaos@yahoo.com) and make a small donation, (of course it doesn't need to be small but I hear tell we're havin' some rough times here in America. That's part of the project
too, ta' do some research into the hearts and minds of those in the
"heartland"). Land mail works too,> Mark K.Kemper 107 Maestes Road,
Taos, NM, 87571. If you invest let's say 5 bucks and you forward this site to some friends and they forward it to theirs, well you get the picture (all sponsors will of course be credited).
A little background information. A few months back I read a book, yes I did!
Well this here book is called "Blood and Thunder", by one Mr. Hampton
Sides, an excellent read and that dang book got us, me n' Louie, well mostly Louie, ta' thinkin'; Why don't we just up n' head down that
Santa Fe trail? "We should head North and Eastward to Colorado", Louie
said. "All of us", he continued, "you, me, 'n
Sadie, the Wonder Dog, and another horse for company 'n ta' sorta'
share the load, we could mosey across Kansas, eventually on to Missouri, to the birthplace of the Santa Fe trail. We want to visit, along with many other sites along the trail, the place where Kit Carson was born. Now that there's a character who remains controversial to this day. The book I mentioned "Blood and Thunder" carries a subtitle; The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West. I want to interview people that live along the trail, whose families may have traveled that long, difficult route.
If this project sells and I can generate some income I will be donating at
least 20% to some friends of mine. One's a lady runnin' an animal rescue facility (when she gets a website up I'll let ya' know where to find it) with no source of income but what she makes. This lady has some 65+ animals, from dogs and chickens to a number of formally abused horses, and on and on. They eat a lot! did I mention the Buffalo? She has a Buffalo.
Well the three of us, Sadie, Louie n' me, we all talked some more 'bout Mr. Louie's idea, Sadie's up for it, I'm up for it and of course Louie (The Lip) is stoked. Whatcha'think, wanna' go along for the ride?
Mark K. Kemper

Stallions

The Royal Lipizzaner Stallions!
I was unsure about the name, that "Royal" part I mean. In the 21st century what does it mean to be "Royal"? Who is "Royal"?
The show began...
After some witty patter from an announcer the curtain parted, a white beast strode forth, tears welled up in my eyes, my heart soared. What beauty, what grace, what elegance!
In 1945 the 42nd Squadron of the US Army's 2nd Cav. saved these animals from near certain destruction, with the help of the German army. For the sake of those animals men, made enemies by politics and fools, allied themselves for those horses. For the Lipizzaners, warring factions lay down their arms. The lineage was saved, those horses.
They are the Royalty, those horses.
They humble us.
>>see lipizzaner.com<<

For years I've felt these words inside me trying to get out, now they have egress, a path out and away into the world, not just scribbled in notebooks then tossed in the fire but launched from this platforn, this Mac, and sent winging away into..

March

March 7th 2009.
Siittin' in the Stardust Inn.
I really like this place, comfortable. Nice people at the front desk, faint scent of curry in the lobby and in the accent of the lady who checks me in.
As she takes my card, my numbers, she notices Sadie in the cab of my truck, eyes alert, ears, pointy, pointed at us as we talk and smile about her, how pretty she is, how lucky we both are. Me, I'm lucky for having found her and she's just plain lucky for bein' alive, and for finding me, I suppose.
She was tied up by a telephone wire for more than two weeks. She has a tendency to spin madly in clockwise revolutions, she'd wound that wire up tight around a pole, around her leg, that wire cut deep into her flesh. That wire had held her tight during some frigid, icy, Taos nights, no food, no shelter, no friends, a bowl of ice to slake her thirst. I mean Sadie was tied up of course, my dog, not the lady behind the counter whose voice sounded like cardamom and ginger.
The lady with the fragrant voice said her own dog, (a German Shepherd, fourteen year member of her family that had saved her husbands life, twice, once by knocking the gun out of a holdup man's hand) had been killed, hit near their home, by a Police car. The Policeman drove on by.
The traffic rolls loud, heavy, on the Interstate, at home in Taos the nights are quiet, near silent. I sit and think about the woman and her dog, her loss. The lady with the dusky skin and the sound of ginger told me that her family had given their departed pet the same respect and ceremony that they would have provided an aunt or a cousin, any loved one.
Her words, her English didn't flow well, nor easily. My perception of her words was erratic, like listening to a radio station bounce in and out as you drive through canyons.
I knew what she meant; She missed her dog. She had loved him, her German Shepherd, she had loved him, he had been killed. I wasn't fair. The Policeman drove on by.

Tomorrow Lipizzaner Stallions!

"http://www.saddletramptravels.com"