Greetings From SuzAnne

As you may have noticed, this edition of our newsletter has arrived later than usual. The changing of the seasons has brought many changes to Dunrovin; and has filled me with a range of emotions, from deep sadness to sweet elation. Truthfully, it has taken me time to find a way to express what I am about to share with you:

Power, my magnificent horse, great friend, and nearly constant companion for more than a decade, has died. Tears stream down my face as I write this.

I am certain that any good media consultant would tell me that I should not write of such things in my ranch newsletter, but how can I not? Power was so central to all of us at Dunrovin. He was my lead horse and the leader of the herd. It was my love of being with him in the backcountry of Montana that inspired me to create Dunrovin. The idea for this business was conceived around my desire to share the incredible sense of the fullness of life that comes from being in wild country with another being to whom you cannot talk – but with whom you can communicate, without words. It was that sort of bond that I shared with Power that brought Dunrovin to life. His presence in my life was a great gift and I am not ready to let him go.

In late March, while I was on a family vacation in California, my property manager, Daniel Birlut, had the most unpleasant task of calling me to tell me that Power had become gravely ill with colic. I needed to make a terrible decision. Fortunately, I have a long and strong relationship with my veterinarian, Dr. Dick Richardson. He greatly helped me through the process. I know Dick to be the best there is and he and I share the same sense of responsible horse ownership: It not about us. It is about them.

Dick saw no hope in Power’s situation and I followed his advice, authorizing him to euthanize Power. I was distraught to not be with Power; so I asked Daniel, who had fed, groomed and saddled him many times, to be with him in his final moments so that he was in the company of someone he knew well and trusted.

I do not regret my decision, as I am confident that it best served Power, but I am terribly sad and a little angry that Power and I did not share many more journeys together. I wanted to see him gradually retire and enjoy years of just being his beautiful self.

I knew that I loved Power, but I did not really know just how much, until he was gone. My grief is still raw.

I am grateful to my family, Daniel, and Jessie Rogers (my ranch manager), for the support that they have given me during my time of grief. And I am grateful to my many friends, equestrian club members, and Dunrovin visitors who have helped me understand just how lucky I was to have experienced such a wonderful relationship with such an exceptional animal as Power.

Within three weeks of Power’s dying, Dr. Richarson was once again called to Dunrovin – this time for a joyous occasion. In the early morning hours of April 15th, Lady Lonza gave birth to a gorgeous, bay filly. She is perfect in every way; full of spunk, big like her mother, friendly, curious, smart and unafraid.

I have given her to Daniel in appreciation of all that he has done for Dunrovin in the short years that he has been working with us. He has named her Serena Lonza, in honor of the serene, star- filled night of her birth. Daniel is totally smitten with her and I believe he will establish with her the type of relationship I had with Power—and still have with Lady Lonza.

The Circle of Life goes around. We say goodbye with tears of sadness to one magnificent bay and welcome with tears of joy another beautiful bay into our fold. This is one of the greatest benefits of living with animal companions: Their journeys intertwine with ours and they keep us grounded in life, giving it so much more meaning.

Thank you for riding alongside us in the journey.

Dunrovin Staff

Meet Danielle Lattuga, Dunrovin’s newest partner (or pardner, if you really want to get horsey).

Choosing a life in Montana is a choice more akin to romance than logic. For me, it includes the allure of wide meadows reflective of the giant sky and mountains that hide secrets in their hearts, where all canyons meet and grip the land. The echo of hoofbeats punctuates this choice. My life in Montana is a life guided by landscape and animal, and my relationship to it is as visceral and palpable as my relationship to those whom I love. After 14 years, the romance has become something enduring—even if a certain valley or vista never ceases to tug my soul skyward.

My passion for writing and the natural world brought me here. After almost 5 years in Big Sky, I moved to Missoula and received my Master’s Degree in Environmental Writing at the University of Montana, in 2003. Since then, I’ve worked tirelessly to support my pair of unemployed herding dogs.

I’ve ridden horses just a handful of times, but it wasn’t until I met SuzAnne Miller that the hoofbeats matched my heartbeat. I am drawn to Dunrovin for many reasons, not the least being the level of care and respect shared with all animals, human and otherwise, who live at or visit this unique ranch.

I come with very little knowledge of horses, but a strong desire to learn their language. Horses provide yet another way of looking at the world and journeying into this magnificent landscape that we are lucky to call home.

As a partner at Dunrovin, I will be writing for and editing the newsletter that you are currently reading, as well as editing and streamlining the website. Look for some exciting changes that will allow us to bring our wonderful community even closer together, through blogs, forums and photo-sharing. SuzAnne and I have many other ideas for my work at Dunrovin, which I credit to the fertile ground that brings us together.

I am grateful to participate in the partnership program at Dunrovin and look forward to meeting so many of the folks that make this place what it is.

Art in Nature – Nature in Art

Dunrovin is ever-changing; whether dressed in the different seasons, adorned with a variety of animal life, dozing in the hot afternoons of summer, or alive with the festivities of a wedding, the place is vibrant, and that vibrancy is carried out on our trail rides and expeditions. One would be hard-pressed to not find inspiration with our horses, in nature. We are attracted to artists and artists are attracted to us, a turn of fortune that has led us to seek even more ways of incorporating art into life at Dunrovin.

Recently, Missoula artist Rich Adams joined Dunrovin for a ride, then shared these thoughts about his experience.

 “I have developed my artistic career around wildlife drawings. I suppose this is mostly in an effort to recapture my childhood memories of bison and elk wandering the majestic valleys in Yellowstone or the hushed excitement of watching a moose in the wild. I received such a thrill when privileged enough to share a few moments with an animal in its native habitat.

As an adult, I now have a whole new set of tools at my disposal in addition to my binoculars, sketchbook, or nature guide; including a deeper understanding of the animals and their natural environments. Big-picture concepts fuel my passions and I want to share my love of the rich variety found in the natural world.

I didn't grow up around horses. My earliest memory is a hazy recollection of a good friend, a small pasture, and a wild colt with a bouncy backend. Trail rides with various outfits and tired, bored horses trudging along nose-to-tail did little to further my interest. It wasn't until my wife became a member at Dunrovin that I started to ride more, and really enjoy it. It has opened a whole new world for me, not only as an animal lover, but also as an artist.
     

Horseback riding provides a behind-the-scenes tour through habitat and wild lands, difficult to achieve on foot and mostly inaccessible with motorized travel. Seeing a landscape from the back of an animal provides a much more intimate perspective than I've been able to find in other ways. All senses are engaged in the experience: from the rustle of wind against my skin, the smell of pine trees at the edge of a sunny spot in the forest, the sound of a white-breasted nuthatch as it calls upside-down from a ponderosa pine, the flash of white as a deer bounds further up a hillside, or the tart-sweet taste of a huckleberry during a short respite along the trail. These moments create a bountiful and fulfilling repository that I draw upon when creating new artwork. I can hear the birds calling as I draw the trees, I can hear the stream thundering through the canyon—I am inside the drawing, reliving the memories as I develop the scene.
     

I encourage other budding wildlife artists to take a trip on horseback in order to experience the splendor of the landscape they are creating. With a diverse storehouse of sensory experiences to draw from, your artwork will grow richer as a result.”

      Rich Adams currently has an exhibition at The Dana Gallery in downtown Missoula. Viewing his captivating and realistic artwork will certainly make his words all the more resonant.

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If you haven’t visited Dunrovin recently, you’ve been missing its newest and most eye-catching welcome gift. A glimmering, sun-filled herd of horses is there to greet you in the morning breeze, enticing you to run alongside them. Artist Penelope Colt was commissioned to paint a 65-foot privacy screen separating the driveway from the grassy area where many festivities take place. This installation captures the colors and motion of the surrounding landscape and animals in such an engaging way, that most visitors would never suspect the functionality behind it.

Penny Colt describes herself first as an artist, but also a horse wrangler, student of American cultures, extensive traveler and homesteader. Her training as an artist comes through “great adventure and family ties,” as well as studies at School of the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio, Goddard College in Vermont, Boston University, and various smaller schools throughout the United States.

Penny has worn many a hat: She is one of very few female journeyman Tool and Die Makers, having spent ten years working for General Motors. She’s earned a living by logging with draft horses in Michigan and traveled cross-country in a horse drawn mobile home/wagon. Perpetually an artist, Penny has built furniture from sawmill lumber and painted decorative art for restaurants and ranches. She’s also wrangled horses in Montana and Colorado and presently guides dudes near her home in Tennessee—the home that she cut trees for and built with her family on 100 acres—“living by their wits, self-sufficiently, now, for twenty years.”

In Penelope’s own words:  

" I have reached maturity and am fortunate to call myself an artist. I have a deep affinity to nature and her creatures and love to depict them in what I call abstract realism.

"Seek adventure. Laugh and Play. Seize the joy in each new day."

I know things aren't perfect, and I wish to express our struggles through art, but usually, it comes out in a happy, peaceful mood. I guess that makes me an optimist.

One of SuzAnne’s educational tools is to describe the contrasting disposition of horses, from the most aggressive to the most docile members of a herd, calling it “horse hierarchy.” I call my screen “horse hierarchy.” Two horses in the lead begin the stampede. Others follow suit, thinking it a fun game. The two front-runners are very serious as to who will be first. The bay behind them is pushing mommy and baby in the third panel and the mare and foal in the fourth panel are being encouraged by the white yearling sister to go ahead. In the fifth panel, the stallion is forcing an older horse to run because he does not know why everybody is running and wants the herd to stay together.”