The World, Part II

Blogger tried to horrify me today by saying none of my pictures were able to be downloaded. Fatal Error, Blogger cried! I panicked for a split second, and then simply loaded them all into my blog again. Wasn't it an English guy named Willie, as they say, who quipped, All's Well That End's Well? Today my post is about my ride on Sunday.

Sunday's weather was oh-so-crummy, but Christine and I had a plan so I went on over to see Lilly. As it turns out, I didn't actually have a plan with Christine. I got there and she never arrived! Note to self: Try to remember riding plans with riding friends accurately. As it turns out Christine was not feeling well and wouldn't be riding anyway. Armed with a great attitude and a little Tracfone that works anywhere, I set off on the trail alone.

Here is my brumby getting a good whiff of some scent in the air. She did this on Saturday in the exact same spot! I had tried to get the others to notice but they were too far ahead. Can you see from the picture that my brumby's lip is all curled up? There must be something smelly blowing through the air. And it was there for two days in a row!

This time we came up out of the woods into one of the pastures. I knew as soon as we walked up this little path what my brumby was going to want to do with all that grass. Seeing all that grass must be for Lilly like it is for me when I walk into a bakery. I think I have died and gone to heaven.

Oh, how my brumby wanted to eat grass as we walked over to the gate. I didn't let her for two reasons. No, three. The first is that it is very annoying when she thinks she is in charge and takes a bite every other step. The second is, if I am every cantering across green grass, I cannot have her deciding on a whim to bend over and eat. That could get dangerous. And the third is, as much as I know she would like to eat grass, I know she is fed very well back at Bill's and does not need to eat a snack on the trail. She may like to act like she is dying of hunger, but I see through her ruse. My brumby is such a wily deceiver at times.

Uh oh. When we arrived at the gate, I see that Bill has us locked in! Actually, there is no real lock on this gate. (The thing with walking into pastures is that one must be careful there isn't a herd of horses already there. I do not like to be on horseback in a pasture full of horses.) At this gate, I just got down off of Lilly, untied it and out we went. I know what you are thinking: a bona fide cowgirl might have sidepassed over and done all of that without leaving her horse's back! Maybe next time.

Then I went into Trollwood. I almost didn't because some of the trail markers are out of whack after winter. It is much better to be lost with another person than to be lost alone. But I wasn't that worried. Here is Getty near one of the trees on the perimeter of Trollwood. You cannot look at that tree and not see a scary element there. That tree is large and formidable. I put up a few new trail markers to help me next time.

In this picture you can just barely see a little bridge over the stream. The bridge isn't fit enough for horses so we always walk through the stream. This day Lilly decided to stop right in the middle of it. I let her stand there and realize that streams are not things to be scared of. Then I fed her a carrot. This is Carrot Stream because everytime she walks through it, she gets a carrot.

This sign is for snowmobilers but I like it. Makes me feel like I am riding 100 years ago through these same woods.

At one point Lilly stopped and got very still. She became very tall and her ears were up. She was looking. And listening.

Here's why! Bill was out in the woods too, on the 4 wheeler! He was mantracking me! Lilly and I had taken so long going through all the trails, meandering so slowly, that Bill came out to look for us! I felt bad--I know Bill likes to watch sports on Sunday afternoons. But that is how Bill is. He keeps an eye on us. On everyone!

Tomorrow night, weather permitting, I will be in the ring!