Wow! That month passed in the blink of an eye! While without a horse, I made an extended trip to the warm(er) south and enjoyed time at the beach, at NASA looking at HUGE fire breathing dragons, touring historical sites, enjoying forests and FAMILY (my sister lives in Florida, what can I say?!?)! I had some amazing experiences and hope to post tidbits about them, but a HORSE related experience since my return has me on the edge of my seat today.
I stole time away from all sense of duty to go riding this afternoon. After all, it's almost 70F in the middle of February - what sane horse person with the appropriate sense of priorities (to be with a horse) could resist?! And of course, my chosen 4 legged drive unit was Blue, who else!!!???
To back up a moment, leading up to my pre-departure, I had some medical issues (and yes, weather issues) that prevented me from riding since mid October, so Blue and company had gotten pretty fat and sassy (Blue gained 6 notches on his rear girth - I think my children/grand-children were ABUSING them while I was gone - by overfeeding!!!)! So since my return the middle of last week I have made a point of riding him every day - starting slowly with 30 minutes and working up to my usual multi-hour jaunt - for both his fitness and my fitness.
Today I went to the barn and called them in - Blue led the pack (of two) to the barn - in the middle of the afternoon. While this seems like a 50-50 probability it really is not - he follows Lexi and SHE does not get enticed into the barn in the middle of the day for what is sure to be a period of work - I ALWAYS have to chase them in! So when he lead today, this was a definite sign of his old self - he had been VERY cool to the reception of my return.
So having gone through the 30 minutes of grooming (ride yesterday, winter coat, warm day = sweaty horse, then rain, then a BIG roll in the MUD!), saddling, and walk out of the barn. But NO - he is sore on his right front.. Bummer! So, big sigh, put him back in the barn, untack and then repeat with Lexi - not quite as muddy, but my arms were already tired!
Success! Hop on (okay, knee creaking, groan of a mount...), go for a nice warm up ride (45 minutes, she had been ridden only once since my return), untack, put horses back out in pasture.
Still a nice warm sunny day. My son and granddaughter are hanging around and I come up with a plan for some great bonding time - target practice! I came back from my journeys with these neat 6" rectangular targets made out of "ballistic, self-healing plastic" (translation, rubber) that move when you hit them - sort of cat and mouse. So we walk to the other side of the horse pasture and commence making loud bangs, etc... Blue and company are pretty use to these things by now (we have neighbors that also enjoy gunnery), so they don't get too excited, but by the time we are finished, they have moved sort of to the opposite corner of their drylot and are looking at us - not in a sleepy fashion - as we trek back to the house.
About 50' into our 100 yard journey, Blue bounces his head up and down, sort of like dislodging a fly - no movement from Lexi. I pause. Something about this strikes me as unusual. Oh YEAH! We had not noticed fly ONE (yet). I SPEAK to Blue in greeting. He nods his head twice. Pause. I speak again. I continue my one sided verbal conversation as we traverse the rest of the pasture. And after each of my sentences HE nods his head - quite animatedly - expressing....?
That he is perturbed with me for riding someone else...? That he wants to be invited to the gunnery range next....? Or wondering what he did wrong to not be ridden...?
I prefer to think the latter!
He amazes me all the time!
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