Fine Horse, Fine Country

This weekend was great. I got to start each day with a giant breakfast at Elmer's, and then start and end the afternoon with a trail ride. On Saturday I headed out with Christine, Jackie and Bill. As soon as we got on the trail I wanted to take this picture. Look how well my brumby stays ground tied! What a jewel of the forest she is!

Then Jackie took this picture. With all the fussing with tack and picture taking, it took us a while to actually start riding! Once we did start riding, the leaves were so crunchy and noisy, I could hardly hear anything anyone was saying.

You may remember a few weeks ago when Jackie, Christine and I had a picnic in the woods, Pokey would not stand still while we ate to save his life. So Saturday we put Pokey in the same spot to see if he would stand still or wiggle around like a waggley worm.

He stood as still as a statue! Was it because Bill was there, our resident horse whisperer? Maybe he was still because this time he wasn't trying so desperately to get a bite of chicken salad sandwich! I love this picture of Jackie because she loves Pokey as if he is her own.

I am not sure what is going on in this picture. It may have been right after Pokey's lesson. In any case, I wanted to show you how laid back we are on the trail. I know when Bill rides with CC they are always galloping hither and yon, scrambling over hill and dale. They love doing that! I do sometimes. But mostly I am a real meanderer on the trail. I dawdle. I hum. I let Lilly sniff manure piles.

Here we are in Trollwood where I wanted to get another picture of everyone. (Pokey looks particularly handsome here. ) It was quite chilly this weekend. Saturday is was also scary windy at times. I was wearing Toe Warmers in my boots and I also wore my full chaps for the first time in a while. They are great in the wind. I guess Winter is officially on its way. I hope I get used to it, because sometimes I don't know how I did it last year! Brrrrrr! For a cute video of this particular moment in Trollwood, click right here!

When we came out of Trollwood, we came across the Blueberry Pasture and into the road. Across the road is where the other horses are setting up shop in the Winter Pasture. At this juncture we encountered two speedwalkers and a bicyclist! One of them asked if it was too cold for the horses! Ha ha! For a fun video of this moment, you must click here. The first half second of the video is worth it! Horses are so beautiful. If you watch it carefully, you'll get to see Lilly do one of her mare-squeals at the gate!!


Sunday we also had a great ride. We didn't have Jackie though and as Bill and Chirstine and I were leaving, that left Pokey in the pasture alone. He ran in prancey circles when we were leaving, and at the trailhead Bill thought he heard him back at home whinnying. We continued on. A third of the way into our ride, Bill's wife Jackie called to tell him Pokey had busted loose and was heading down the road! Bill had to turn around and go find him. But here you can see, he succeeded, thank goodness. I'm sure Pokey was just trying to find us.


I am concluding my blog post today with a small tribute to the man in the photo above. His name is Larry Cobb and he died last week. Among many other things, he worked locally as an equine dentist. He would sing to horses as he worked with them. Here he is working on Lilly earlier this year. In my post about his visit to the farm I wrote that he reminded me of Santa Claus. His obituary read: He will be missed by thousands of horses and their owners for his ability to quiet and to provide unequaled service to the animals he cared for, industry wide throughout New England, including many rescued animals in need of special care.

Rest in peace, good man Larry Cobb.