Riding the Ridgeline #14220

The Story

Against the western clouds, a horse and rider move in silhouette along the sandy ridgeline under a ragged evening sky. Pounding hooves kick up the brown arid soil as this cowgirl reins her moving horse between the clumps of sagebrush. It’s been a rough weather day with hail and bands of blowing snow alternated with bright sunshine. Somehow, that cold wind never seems to let up.

Here in the high desert of Colorado, the sky goes on forever in a full-width panorama of 180 degrees with half the wide world always overhead. The next snow squall heading in can be seen moving in from thirty miles away, sandwiched between wide strips of clear sunlight. The atmosphere has been churned all day in a giant windy blender and the ripped cotton clouds change color in the setting sun. Faint colors turn more vivid then begin to pale and fade moving to blue, then gray.

The day is almost done, but it will be a while before this horse and rider can rest. Time to get home after working the horse herd all day but those evening chores of home still await, the ones that can be done in lantern light. First, tend to the faithful working partner with four legs…a brush down followed by some good summer hay from the loft, and try to get the knots out of a windblown mane as unruly as the windy sky.

Location: Near Craig, Moffat County, Colorado.