My title is from a Raymond Carver title, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” The two words do seem synonymous to me – horses, love, love horses, love the horses, horses the love – it’s an energy swirl in which everything is the same and nothing is different.

This morning I got Hrimfara out for a ride. Hrimmi is our homie (har har). She was born here. She did spend a summer on the other side of town, in a front yard pasture with an unruly two year horse. It was the happiest day of

Hrimmi's second birthday

her life when we went to get her – she walked right up to the fence and would not leave. Her dam, Signy was in the trailer, and this may have had something to do with her single minded intensity of focus.

We got home and Hrimmi immediately attempted to nurse off Signy. Signy let her know with one swift kick that the dairy queen had dried up. Hrimmi was momentarily stunned, but she got over it fairly quickly.

She will be 11 years old May 5th.

I rode her today, and she walked at a brisk pace down to the Murphy Road turnoff, stopping just once when a neighbor (at the distance) honked his horn. She planted her feet and for a few minutes refused to move. I was just about to jump off her and walk her to the side of the road when she got with the program, allowing neighbor to pass.

I looked at the turn down road and saw what I thought was a road grader and Pete later told me was a front end loader. Sad to say, my road equipment I.Q. is in the negative numbers, just like the outside thermometer. It wasn’t moving; this is what I told Pete. When, later, I went by I noticed that it was no longer there, but the driveway had been cleared out.

Anyhow, I thought that the road grader (this was back when I thought that this was what it was) was headed in our direction, which was why I urged Hrimmi on. She did trot most of the way home.

I am speculating that of all the three, that the winter off did her the most good. She seems far more forward than she has in the past. We’ll see if she remains this way when the grass appears.

It felt good to be riding, and, in fact, I am slowly getting back into riding shape.

Tomorrow, Zach Kaiser (our veterinarian) will come and do the spring checkup thing. I like Zach – he is very much into education and both Pete and I learn a lot when he comes and visits. I just wish that I was more hands on – I still have aspirations about becoming a veterinarian. Mat-Su College will soon have a vet tech program – we’ll see – maybe I will just take a class now and then.

Finally, we really are on the flip side of winter. Now I can get more riding time in. No excuses.

Next: 86. 3/28/23: Scrambling