The holiday season brings “beauty” in many different forms to the fore as companies jockey for the public’s cherished dollars. A striking figure, enigmatic eyes, a splash of color on a dramatic background—these are only a few of the ways our imagination will be wooed and our desires inspired in the days and weeks ahead.
We forget in the onslaught of glitter and loveliness that the face in the ad, the voiceover on the commercial…these belong to (believe it or not) regular human beings, maybe even not so different from each one of us. The models and the celebrities, the actors and actresses, are perhaps pondering the same moments in time we are, enjoying the same means of escape, and seeking the same forms of solace and comfort of company upon which all of us depend.
“Being in motion is one of the keys to being happy,” says supermodel Arizona Muse.
It is exactly this that Laura Chester shares and explores in RIDING BARRANCA, the prolific writer’s latest book. As she and her horses wander in what seems like almost perpetual motion, up mountainsides, down creek beds, along narrow trails—sometimes alone but often in the company of others, including Arizona—Laura wrestles with her mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s disease and tries to come to terms with their troubled relationship. The horse and his movement, as is often the case, is the key to Laura finding a way to release the past in order to take firm hold of the present…while opening her heart to the future.
“The horse, my favorite animal—sensitive intelligence inside a powerful and strong physical body,” says Arizona. “Laura and I share a very special connection with these beauties. I’ve been blessed to ride with her!”
Laura writes in RIDING BARRANCA:
Now we ride quietly and just take all of this in. So often, it is better not to talk on horseback but to try and remain in touch with what is happening with your horse, how the bit feels in his mouth, how he is walking on the path—giving leg signals and making subtle moves…Arizona and I both appreciate the great silence that surrounds us…neither of us wears a watch, for we are in a timeless zone of pure pleasure.
Take a moment to discover some of the other places Arizona Muse finds quiet, joy, and companionship in this short film by Steven Sebring:
RIDING BARRANCA is available from the TSB online bookstore, where shipping in the US is FREE!
