I usually take Tinni out first. This way I can stretch out, do some exercises, find my seat.  Today I had to take Raudi out first.  I noticed when I was cleaning the pen that she was acting like a kindergartener who’d been cooped up too long.  All she wanted to do was steal her classmate’s milk and cookies.  I decided enough was enough when she did the reverse backass plow into Siggi. All he was trying to do was get his fair share of the snacks.

I know this horse well enough to know that she was bored.  She hadn’t been out since the day before yesterday, and that was for a short ride.  So off we went, down Murphy Road.  The sun was by now

Raudi

low in the sky, and the temperature was cooling.  A good time to be out. 

It was looking like it was going to be a difficult ride.  Raudi chose to spook at existent objects (snow clumps, the creek, and an orange post) and non-existent objects (moose.) Okay, maybe the moose were out there. I didn’t see them.  Then Pancho went to pass me with his plow truck.  A perfect opportunity, thinks Raudi, to turn and bolt in the direction of home.  She wasn’t given the chance, which really pissed her off.  Down the road we continued.  Okay, she thinks, I will, instead of acting like an idiot, go really, really slow.

It’s at such times that I think about taking up a new sport, such as teaching chickens to tap dance.  But then there are times when I know that horseback riding is the sport for me.  In fact, I live for those rare instances when Raudi and I are one with the universe.  There were a few such moments on the return trip home.  I asked, and Raudi momentarily trotted nicely, throwing in a few steps of tolt for good measure.  And she did just fine with her groundwork, stopping nicely when asked.  I was pleased because I got what I wanted – near total focus. 

I would not ever trade this mare for any other.  She was my first Icelandic, and for this reason is special. And too, I’ve been her primary trainer for eight years, and in this time we’ve become adept at intuiting one another’s moods. We’re nearly a team. We aren’t there yet.  But we are pretty dang close.

Next: 7. 12/7/11: Scooping Poop