On a happier note, I was able to squeeze some trail riding in this week. First I rode with Elaine and then today with just Mago, Harley and me. Mago was put out because on Saturday Anne helped me with some hoof trimming - it was fine when we worked on Mago, but when we got to Angie, Mago did not approve. Mago and Princess were turned loose, so he reached out of the pen and retrieved first a cotton quilted saddle blanket, then a neoprene girth, then Anne's water bottle - each time tossing them into or at Angie's stall to get our attention. When this did not work, he leaned over the door and wall and blew his hot breath on us, contributing to the already very hot day. There was no getting away today when I came back from my overnight camping to clean the barn. After getting his vitamins and hemp meal, I let them all back out. He scooted out to get a drink of water and then right back into his stall to nibble hay and wait for me to pay attention to him, the girls were long gone in the pasture. I left his stall door open and brushed him, and he still was not leaving. So I popped the saddle on and snuck off into the end of the pasture without Harley, thinking that I might take Mago for a little gallop and Harley may not be able to keep up with us. I also wanted to try a more challenging bush trail for the first time. We worked our way through the meadow and down a trail that is partly washed out from spring flooding. We needed to track through a little slash to avoid some bad spots. Once I was not sure which was the best way so I got off and led him, he trooped along even when there was actually no trail to follow. I mounted back up and took him on a section of trail that is very steep and rocky, requiring careful weaving to get good footing. Not only did he truck up there at a steady pace, working around trees and rocks as I asked him to, but he also stopped halfway up a particularly steep section to look back and show me that Harley had tracked us down. Now at this point we NEEDED to keep our momentum, so I grabbed some mane, leaned well forward and gave him a slap on the flank. He returned to surging up that hill and I stopped him at the top to catch his breath. It was a long hard climb but he was not even puffing!!!! We sent Harley on ahead and carried on for the rest of the ride. Interestingly, Harley caught up to us about 20-30 minutes into the ride, so he must have gone over to the barn looking for me and then tracked us by smell, so maybe he can add being a tracking dog to his set of skills. On our return I got Bob to snap a picture of us, me very happy with our progress.
I let Mago graze a bit and Harley seemed to think he should participate and chewed on the grass to, they are pictured together grazing. Our animals all seem to have most peculiar personalities. Don't in any way consider that this is a request from me to know why, I think I already have an inkling that their caretaker is a contributing factor.
