Chronicle of the Horse | Untacked | January February 2020

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Seeing The World WITH LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS

Contributors to the “Life Between The Ears” social media accounts transport us to the world’s most interesting and beautiful places—all viewed from the saddle. Here we share a few of their images.

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MAURY ISLAND, WASHINGTON Every year Kristine Dahms looks forward to snapping a photo “with the swaths of sunny yellow daffodils under the alders” on this enchanting path near her home on Maury Island, Washington. She missed the bloom this year but still took her Welsh cob gelding, Wyn, on one of their favorite trails. “[Wyn] challenges me every day and is practically feral now after not being ridden for

KRISTINE DAHMS PHOTO/@LIFEBETWEENTHEEARS AND @CAMP_DAHMS

three months while I mended a broken wrist,” Dahms says. “But whatever—I just keep riding and learning how to stay on.”

Dahms, 56, has lived in the Pacific Northwest all her life, and she’s been riding for almost as long.

“We lived in a tiny old farm house in Tonasket, Washington, when I was 4, and my mom plunked me on top of our gentle old pony, Cub,” she says. “I’d go through the apple orchard with the neighbor kids and dogs. [My mom] used to tell the story of how one day I came back, leading Cub from the ground, furious because I had come off, but I was too little to get back in the saddle by myself.”

In 2008, after taking time away from horses to establish her graphic design business, Twist Design, Dahms bought a horse named Baloo. She took a photo from between his ears, and started the #LifeBetweenTheEars movement that eventually flourished into a business. She and her husband, commercial photographer Rick Dahms, have lived on Maury Island for 20 years.

“Originally we moved here so our Lab, Mose, had a place nearby to swim. True story,” she says.

Maury Island is connected to larger Vashon Island by an isthmus built in the early 1900s. Vashon Island is historically known for strawberry production and the annual strawberry festival in July, which has persisted despite a decline in strawberry farming.

“Although we’ve seen a lot of changes in the past two decades, the island will always be home to us,” says Kristine. “We love that it’s a tightly knit community with forward-thinking people who are interested in the environment.”

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INYO NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA Navigating the steep stone steps on Pine Creek Pass in the Inyo National Forest, California, would be treacherous for many horses and riders, but for Barbara Lowell and Reggie it was just another beautiful day on the trail. Reggie belongs to Barbara’s husband, Titus Lowell, and the group was in the midst of a multi-day trek when Barbara decided to give her own horse a break and ride Reggie while Titus hiked.

“I’ve done extensive riding in the Sierra, and this certainly wasn’t my first ride in that general area,” Barbara says. “It’s a beautiful, stunning and unique place, and I love the [nearby] BARBARA COWELL PHOTO/@THEWONDERFULJOURNEYS

town of Bishop. We easily navigated those steps up and wonderful, confident and very skilled trail horse who absolutely loves the trail.”

Barbara took her first riding lesson while visiting her family in Europe as a child and has been in love with trail riding ever since. Titus is an active-duty U.S. Marine, so Barbara takes advantage of their frequent relocations to see as much of America’s public lands as she can.

“Part of keeping my sanity is exploring all corners of this beautiful country,” says Barbara, 35, San Antonio.

The Inyo National Forest includes parts of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California and the White Mountains in California and Nevada. There are two main attractions within the forest’s two million acres of wilderness: Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States; and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, which is home to some of the oldest trees in the world. The forest’s most famous resident, Methuselah, is estimated to be more than 4,800 years old.

SHARING LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS

ince 2008, Life Between The Ears founder Kristine Dahms has posted stunning photos shot by riders in all corners of the world with one hand on the reins and the other on the shutter. Dahms mines photos with the hashtag #lifebetweentheears, contacts the original poster of the image, then features the photo, complete with educational details about the place that’s portrayed.

Life Between The Ears photos appear on a LBTE Facebook page, an Instagram feed, a dedicated website (lifebetweentheears.com), a Twitter feed and a Pinterest page (all under @lifebetweentheears account names).

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RICK DAHMS PHOTO

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down. You see this type of terrain a lot in this area. Reggie is a

Dahms—who lives in Vashon, Washington, with her Welsh Cob, mini horse, pygmy goats, two dogs and two cats—rides dressage and takes quite a few photos herself on the picturesque Vashon-Maury Island.

Dahms has taken some of the Life Between The Ears images from cyberspace to print, creating three lines of greeting cards with selected photos from her social media pages.

A portion of the proceeds from the card sales goes to the Equine Land Conservation

Resource (elcr.org). Cards are available at lifebetweentheears.com/retail.