Adventures of a Horseshoer

While in Romania I found myself astride my mount and looking through a viewfinder of a camera. This can be very interesting if your mount chooses to try out a tasty piece of shrubbery and dives right while you are hopefully trying to catch that unique and interesting skyline on your left ( this usually leaves a lovely photo of approaching ground). The following are photos taken on a trip I helped guide through the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.

                Watching the people move through their day just  simply living and working but in a time frame that didn’t match to the western ideals that most of us are raised with really became an astounding experience. The man pushing the bicycle in the above photo is actually the village mailman. Everyday he travels about the countryside with a leather satchel delivering packages and most always having a kind word.

The young boy standing with the horse and cart is actually the milkman. He travels from house to house picking up fresh containers of milk to be delivered to the factory to be made into incredible cheese and fresh cream sold in the local shops.

The lady braveley bicycling through the herd of sheep was on her way to work fighting a ruly different type of traffic jam. She bravely rode her way through the herd and didn’t even snag a nylon.

When the pace slowed and you could watch life evolve from between your horses ears all of a sudden their was poetry in everyone’s effort to survive and create their own efficiency in the world.

This will be my first attempt at blogging and opening a bit of my adventures to many others.

For myself I was at one time a wilderness instructor teaching rock climbing, caving, kayaking, backpacking, and simply just living outdoors. I made a great escape into the Artic to act as a guide and mush the most wonderful four leggeds in the world into the Gates of the Artic National Park this became a short stint due to calls to come back home but travel runs strong in my blood so opportunities again reared its beautiful head and a chance to live in Romania presented itself. Here to teach riding and guide equestrian tourism treks. Three months turned into two years. The beauty and adventure to be found there is unbelievable! Returned home to start a shoeing business and live near family for awhile although my shoeing business expanded out as far as Montana and north to Bandon Oregon which covers quite an area considering I live in Northern California near the magic of Mt. Shasta and the aquatic delights of Shasta Lake and Whiskeytown not to mention the rivers. Here is where the bikerdog Spur and his companion Kermit humor me into adventures kayaking and riding the harley. These little souls of conquest share their “two legged” with the noble steeds Shez It and Sarge whom carry us into the Trinity National Forest, Lassen National Forests, and many other mountainous treks. So I hope that everyone will find something interesting and inspiring in following footprints and creating our own.