Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 97th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 97th LESSON

The weather was as perfect as the mare this morning. I had Flossie cantering the entire
track in both directions. In the paddock, we worked on cantering in a circle around the
cones. She did a lot of trotting during the lesson which gave me a lot of practice.
However, having said that, I must admit I've been posting her trot now for quite some
time without difficulty. She actually trotted more than she paced, which is a first. It
seems the more relaxed she is, the more apt she is to pick up a trot. Of course, it goes
without saying, the more relaxed I am, the more relaxed she is.

After our ride, and once she was cooled out and had her carrots, I joined BamBam in the
paddock where he was lying in the shade. I sat down beside him, not quite close enough to
touch him, but close enough to have an impact on him. He remained dozing on the grass for
quite some time before he got up and walked away. Like Blaze, when I did the same thing
with him last week, once I reclined on my back, the curiosity got the best of him and he
just had to get up and investigate me.

Blaze ate an entire carrot this morning! I usually only offer him parts of carrots at a
time, but this time I gave him one of his own and he ate the entire thing. I guess I better
start buying more carrots every week now to accomodate his growing taste for the crunchy
orange vegetable.

I pulled Flossie's mane after and gave her a good grooming after our ride. This is the
third time I've pulled her mane. Her tail stayed pretty good from last week's
conditioning. All I had to do was put a comb to it and it came out tangle-free! I guess
bot fly season is over since I'm not finding bot eggs on her knees any more. It's
been three weeks since I had to cut any off.

Here's something I feel is quite extraordinary: While I was on foot cooling Flossie
out, and while we were walking along the track nearest the road, a huge million-wheeled big
rig starting revving up its engines as it started heading up the road behind us. Flossie
and I were both aware of its approach, but, suddenly, just as it came up beside us, Flossie
stopped dead in her tracks, stretched her neck way out so she could swing it around and give
me a good look with both her eyes, and if horses could talk, I know she would have said
something like, "Wow! What do you make of that?" I told her, "It's only
a truck; it's okay." Then she looked back at the track again and took a calm step
forward as if she were satisfied with my explanation and, again, if horses could talk, I
knew she had answered me with, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

We still have some marvelous weather going on outside at the moment. No breeze; cool air; a
descending sun that is blushing into a soft peachy color along the horizon-line just beyond
our backyard. A single-file line of cumulus is parading across the sky directly above the
distant treetops, as if they were a crowd of kids in a long queue to buy tickets to see a
show. They've been there now for quite some time, so it must be some show!