Alys: Hrimmi, how are you doing?
Hrimmi: All right.
A: Just all right?
H: Just all right.
A: Are you up for an outing?
H: Yes.
A: What’s bothering you then?
H: If the truth must be known, I am tired of being the lowliest pony in the barn.
A: Huh?
H: You heard me. I repeat: I am tired of being the lowliest pony in the barn.
A: What gives you this idea?
H: Facts is facts. The others are all very special to you. Tinni is your steady eddy horse, Raudi is the apple of your eye, and Tyra is your wunderkind.
A: How do you know what a wunderkind is?
H: Tyra told me.

Hrimmi on the Lander Cut-Off

A: And where did she learn this?
H: From the crows.
A: Do you also have conversations with the crows?
H: No. I just tell them not to shit on the hay.
A: I’m sorry you think the way you do about your status. It simply is not true.
H: No?
A: No. I love you all equally. No one pony here is higher in my estimation than any of the others.
H: And so, what about me?
A: Look. Right now. Who’s going out first on the trail? Who went out first yesterday? And who went out first the day before?
H: Me. Because I have the thickest coat and you want to make sure that it’s dry before nightfall.
A: True. But there are other equally important reasons for taking you out before the others. Riding you is a confidence builder. You have never, ever spooked or bolted. You are reliable on the trails. You pick your way carefully around the punchy sections. And you go down hills nicely.
H: In this respect I’m like the others, right?
A: Better than the others. A case in point – who did I ride on that trek in Fairbanks, the one in which Phillipe was starting his Alaska trip.
H: Me.
A: And why you?
H: Because Pete wanted to ride Raudi.
A: No, no, no. It was because you were the most trustworthy.
H: I’m not yet fully convinced that you care about me all that much.
A: Ohh, I do. You are special because you were born here. I remember Pete’s coming into the house and saying we had a foal. And I remember first seeing you and feeling awed because you were such a fine horse. We also loved Signy dearly, and you were her gift to us.
H: Then how come you seldom extol my virtues?
A: If I haven’t, I will. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about what a gentle, kind, and loving horse you are.
H: Not a day?
A: No, not a day.
H: How about every two days?
A: Nope. Every single day. You are also the herd peacemaker. You get along with both Raudi and Tyra. And you learn so fast. The others learned from you to go to the targets.
H: True, true.
A: So, would you like to be the first today, to go on an outing?
H: Yes, yes, and yes.

Next: 36. 2/5/21: Love and Loss