In the Summertime

Finally I am getting back into the swing of things now that I am back from Pennsylvania. Yes, it takes me a long time to get back into the groove. But I am not the only baddie out there. Mother Nature must be made accountable! First it was too wet. Then it was too hot. And now, my brumby's feet are too sore!

This past Saturday I got up EARLY to beat the heat. I wanted to squeeze a ride in before the sweltering heat of the day. I got brumby out of the pasture and immediately Bill and I noticed she was ouchie. This led to a discussion of why her feet are ouchie after her bare feet have been doing so well. I think it is the weather. Bill isn't so sure. He seemed to be leaning toward (GASP!) putting shoes on her!!  Much discussion followed. Bill trimmed her flares. She stood patiently for both hoof symposium and sunscreen application and apple munching-- all in front of a fan. Then, it was back to the pasture she went.

With Lilly too sore to ride for the day, guess who was immediately in my radar? Sophie! I told Bill: I'm taking Sophie down the trail! He wanted me to ride her in the ring first. Even though I am such a fraidy cat, I told him I did not think that would be necessary! What had come over me? But as I started out, Bill pointed out the neighbor's (currently empty) pasture right by the driveway and thought I could just give her a preliminary ride there. After all, she has not been ridden in three weeks. So I got on Sophie and she obediently carried me in a few small circles. While we walked around, Bill got a phone call giving Sophie and I a chance to slip away!

I was very glad Sophie did not act barn sour the farther we got away from the other horses and closer to the trail. Not sour at all. That was good. Out on the trail she wandered from one side of the trail to the other so there were not too many chances for picture taking. I actually had to steer her. A few times she tried to turn around and head back. She did this very firmly. I corrected her and we carried on.

 A few times she stopped and tried to pretend she would not move forward. I gave her a few seconds to mull it over and then we moved on. No real problems. She'd try to change our direction and I'd remind her where we were going.

This photo was actually taken before the last one. At first Sophie did not seem to like that tree up there over the trail. But she got over it. The thing about this pony is how quickly her little feet move. Her walk has twice the movement as Lilly's walk. Her steps are small and quick. She does not stop to smell the roses (and the ferns and the puddles and low tree branches...) like my brumby. Also, the deer flies were ghastly.

We got to the end of the short trail and I turned Sophie around to repeat the trail backwards back to the barn. That's when she got a little feisty. She started to take off. I turned her in a circle and she tried to move forward and then back up fast in her fast little pony way. I got her to stand in one place but her feet were moving under her in little jiggy steps. I felt like I was doing dressage. Really bad dressage. When we moved forward she was jigging along, so excited to get moving. Right at this time, Bill called. I answered the phone, so you see it could not have been that bad.  I told him she was being good except for this moment. But! she had made no attempts to buck me off.

Bill appeared on his 4 wheeler. Just to make sure things were OK. We were fine. No worries. He took a few pictures of me and Sophie. I think I look quite heavy on her. But believe me, she is very strong. Then he sped off. I made Sophie walk the whole way back. At first it was a struggle. I let her walk very fast. As long as she was walking, I kept the reins loose. A fast walk was fine,but no trotting. Strangely enough, as we got closer to the barn she slowed down--as if we were coming to an understanding. SUCCESS!

Whew! I wish I had more pictures, but when your hands are busy, it is impossible to get good pictures! As Sophie and I get used to each other, I promise to get more photos.

OK, that's all for tonite. More soon!