DAY 28 & 29 - Windy And Good

Well, Possum is becoming a mellow dude. Not that he doesn't have his quirks, like any horse, but it's nice to see him so relaxed.

Sunday went as planned. We left at 2:20 (early, to get to the club ahead of schedule) and Possum got his pellets and a bale of hay spread out around his paddock and in his stall. When we got back around 9:30, I never even saw him until I retired around 12. Monday morning, I got my chores done and went down town to the market, and finally got around to spending quality time with him around 1:30 or 2.

It was windy as all heck out, and I was dreading taking him out because of it. So, I put his halter on in the paddock and did a few ground work things with him, then asked him to free lunge a bit. Well, despite the wind, he was not in the mood to run around, so I bagged that and tied him up to the outside cross ties and groomed him. Then I led him into the stall to tack up, then mounted from the stump in the paddock and walked him around the paddock for a few minutes. I was expecting trouble, but he was actually not too bad.

We rode down the rode with only one or two little "looky hops," and rode down to Dr. Doyle's old place and back, with a couple of little trots during the good parts of the road. I talked to him a lot as we rode along, and he seemed to appreciate that in the windy conditions.

We came back up the hill and visited with Mack, then rode down to the field across from Lenny's and rode around there a bit. Then we rode back up to the Dodge barn and talked with Donna for a few minutes, then rode home, having been out for about an hour. I was really surprised at how good Possum was in all of that wind!

Today started calm and fairly mild, and after feeding him and cleaning the paddock, I spent the rest of the morning cutting back irises and such, then took a break before I went out to play with Possum. Around 2, I went out and put his halter on (he was hanging out in the stall, ready to play), and gave him a light grooming. He was a little testy, and tried to nip once or twice, but seemed to behave after I corrected him.

Tacked up, I brought him out to the paddock to mount up. I was pretty annoyed that the wind had picked up again, and Possum was reacting to that a bit, but we got going and he was fairly agreeable. We detoured down the hill through the path behind Dad's house, and I made sure to make him walk up the hill out of the dip. We walked the rest of the way down to Dr. Doyle's old place, then picked up a trot on the way back. At the pipe, we turned and picked up a trot again half way down, then turned and trotted back again.

At the hill, we walked, then trotted a bit, then went back through the path behind Dad's. This time, I let him trot, then canter, up out of the dip. Then we walked up to the road and all the way up the Dodge house. I waved hello to the Mister, who was out puttering around in his front yard, then we took a left and walk up the cleared lot for sale. We walked back down and took a left on the road and walked down to Lenny's.

Down in the field behind Lenny's house.

We walked down into the field behind his house, all the way down to the bottom, and slowly worked our way back up, trotting a couple of times. Then we walked back up to the road, trotted on the road towards the Dodge barn, then walked home.

Out for an hour!