Impression Evergreen

The Nebraska Sandhills Flowing through the southern Sandhills of western Nebraska, an irrigation canal offers some relief from the sweltering, summer heat. A ditch road that runs alongside the waterway is the perfect path for a morning hike. Rain from the night before creates a thick haze that burns off into white clouds as the day begins. Even though filtered light glazes the landscape with gold, the pastures seem greener than normal this year. A bunch of shaggy sheep are vocal inhabitants while swallows skim across the water’s smooth surface. Sometimes I’ll see wary jackrabbits or a white-tailed deer but in this big sky county, cattle are king. They are voracious grazers but when confronted by peculiar visitors, it piques their interest. Cows and calves come running in order to get a closer look at the unexpected newcomers. The deep, blue water is a natural barrier between us and the domestic beasts so the situation remains completely harmless. As we continue on our prai...

Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, sometimes described in more elaborate terms as the famous and celebrated Colonial Quarter Pather, was first bred during the early 1600s in Virginia. The first colonists crossed the imported English Thoroughbred with assorted native horses that descended from Spain and were brought to what is now the Southeastern United States by the Conquistadors. This new breed was small, tough and quick. They were recognized as a versatile work horse during the week and an explosive racehorse on the weekend. The sports-crazy English settlers raced their horses over quarter-mile stretches run through the brush, plantations and villages. Local entrants often triumphed, with some sprinters being clocked at up to 55mph. For this reason the animal became known as the Quarter Horse. In the 19th century, pioneers heading west began crossbreeding the Colonial Quarter Horse with the wild mustangs of the Great Plains. The resulting new breed had an innate "...