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c h r o n o f h o r s e . c o m w i n t e r 2 014 47 "C ome on, smith and ulysses! you too, sny- der and nascar! ere you go. go on in; good boys." it's dinnertime for the red rock hounds, and their baying chorus echoes out into the vast desert 30 miles north of reno, nev. As 150 of these cheerful, wriggling American Walkers—from pups to seasoned veterans— rotate through the feeding area, their master lynn lloyd summons each hound by name and gives it a warm embrace before relocating them into a different pen. "don't you like to hear your name?" lloyd asks, glancing over her shoulder at me as the bends down to pat one. "it's the same with them. everyone deserves to hear their name at least once a day." e sentiment behind this effort defines lloyd. to the uneducated eye, her pack is a mere jumble of black, tan and white spots, of floppy ears and wagging tails and slobbery jowls. But lloyd not only discerns the faintest of differences, she revels in them. After all, it was her commitment to individuality and appreciation for uniqueness that first led lloyd, 64, to the life she now leads in the foothills of the sierra nevada mountains. it's bold, dramatic terrain. e landscape is dry and desolately beautiful, with oceans of silvery green sage- brush stubbornly growing in the tawny dirt between boulders. And lloyd, part cowgirl, part hunting tradi- tionalist and all passionate free spirit, thrives here. "i just feel so lucky to even have this part of nature that i'm taking care of at the moment," says lloyd, who has called the desert home for more than 30 years now. "it just amazes me. "Being open to whatever comes into your life? at makes life! Who would think i'd be sitting here and sup- posedly 'owning' this whole thing?" she marvels, punc- tuating the sentiment with an enthusiastic sweep of her arm toward moody, distant hills rising from the valley. "i always say about 'owning' it—we're just the care- takers for whatever power is up there," she says, pointing to the sky. "i can be here, and all these incredible people come into my life rather than me having to go anywhere. how lucky is that? it all happens here. And the horses are the catalyst behind the whole thing." e mail-order pony at started it All lloyd's serendipitous journey to reno began in rural eastern pennsylvania, she tells me as we sit back and relax outside the red rock hounds clubhouse at her 640-acre ross Creek ranch. We're drinking Bloody Part cowgirl, part hunting traditionalist and all passionate free spirit, Lynn Lloyd thrives in the rough country of western Nevada that she started hunting more than three decades ago. GretCHen PelHAM PHoto

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