Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 253rd Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 253rd LESSON

The rain that was supposed to jeopardize my ride today turned into the risk of an afternoon thunderstorm, instead. So, under a bright blue sky it sprinkled on the way to Des’ and then once again just after my ride but in both cases it didn’t turn into anything hard and it didn’t last long.

Upon my arrival, after taking my tack out of the car, and as I started to gather it all together, Pat informed me that the grader was coming down to spend a couple hours working on the track and that he was late and should be around any minute. I didn’t like the sound of those words since I only had 2 ½ hours before Norm would be coming to pick me up. I saddled Flossie so fast that I was in the saddle in no time.

As it turned out, the grader never did show and I had a wonderful time with Flossie. She worked so well she made me proud. She kept refusing to pick up the correct lead going to the right on the track. She’d start out on it, take a couple of strides, then quit on me. However, on the circle, I got her on the lead and was able to keep her on it for several laps. She circled well in both directions. I felt very limber today and loose in the saddle. Not as loose as I want to be, but better than usual.

Instead of working in the ‘arena’ the way I do for the last part of my ride, I put Flossie back on the track, instead, at a slow trot and then had her working off and on the track by circling around trees. I took her around one tree, then back to the track, circled the next tree, then back to the track again. We’ve done this exercise before but it was long before the machines came to build a new road next to Des’ dam.

Speaking of machines, the ones that have been working on the other side of the rail road tracks weren’t in commission today so I had a very quiet ride. It was savory to the ears and absolutely satisfying to my heart.

There were horses in the paddock behind the abandoned barn that’s located next to Des’ property and I had never seen them there before. One day when I have time I’m going to make it a point to walk over there and see if the people who own the horses can tell me where the trails are and if they know where Lynn lives. If you remember, Lynn is the gal who wanted to trail ride with me once her horse’s broken jaw healed. I haven’t heard from her since that one and only day when we first met.

Now the sky is a water color blur in all shades of grey and it looks more and more like rain every minute. My clothes, which I’ve hung out on the line, may not dry, and thunder and lightning may put an end to my use of the computer for a while, but at least I got my ride in for the week. Relief and joy, sweet joy!