DAY 69, 70, 71 & 72 - Windy Rainy & Finally Calm Again

Saturday, "Day 69," the weather won, and I decided fighting the driving rains and howling winds would not be worth the trouble, so, while Possum hunkered down in his stall (though the doors were still open to his paddock,) I took the day to do house chores and relax. Possum, on the other hand, was very tense, keeping a close eye on all things blowing in the big storm. I kept his stall filled with hay, and let him play out the storm at his own pace.

I got home from my gig at 1:45, and though on my ride home there was still some wind and even a few snow flakes falling from the sky, I opted to leave the stall doors open to his paddock. I did take a quick walk to check and make sure the fence lines were still intact and branch free, but Possum seemed determined to stand in his stall away from the winds anyway, so I retired at 2:30 in the morning fairly secure that we would make it through the night.

Sunday morning, the winds and rains were still relentless. Poor Possum was almost at his wits end because of it, but he continued to munch away on the giant pile of hay to ease his anxiety. During a lull in the storm, around 2 in the afternoon, as I was filling up the water buckets and refilling the hay rations before we left for our gig, Donna and Big Mack came down for a short visit. It was nice for Possum, who came skipping out into the paddock, to see his buddy and learn that everybody was still okay. Donna and I chatted and she offered to text me while I was at my gig if the power went out. She eased my anxiety by offering to come over and lock Possum in the stall if we did lose power on the hill. Luckily, we never did lose power that night. I put Possum's halter on before we left, just in case.

We got through Sunday night, and Monday morning, the winds were still whipping! I spent a good part of the morning cleaning the stall and paddock. Between all of the poops, pine cones and branches down, I made several trips to the manure pile with the wheelbarrow. Possum braved the paddock several times, but the winds were just so brutal, he kept running back to the stall for relief. Can't say I blame him!

After barn chores, I showered then drove downtown to bank, gas up and grocery shop. Shortly after I got back, the storm finally passed. No more blasted wind! I put Possum's halter on and led him out of the paddock, and up to the Dodge barn we walked. I enjoyed seeing how mellow he was as we walked up the road. His eyes were soft and his head carriage was low. It was nice. We walked down to greet Big Mack, who was grazing in his temporary paddock, and Possum was very happy to graze around the fence line. The sun was finally out! We wandered over by the barn and visited with the 8 chickens who have been living in the extra stall. They were very curious about us, preening this way and that and inching ever closer, but Possum was so enthralled to be grazing he paid hardly any attention to the birds.

After almost an hour, I led him back to the barn, not without a little bit of rebellion from him. But, back we went, and I groomed him for a bit before I let him back loose in the paddock.

Today, "day 72," election day Tuesday, I got him fed by 7:30 (still adjusting to daylight savings,) and an hour or so later, after working in the gardens, I cleaned his stall and paddock. After a quick shower and a run down to the town office to vote, I brought him into the stall for a quick grooming. Last night, I had brought all the tack into the house, as it's getting pretty cold out there every night, and I don't want to be putting ice cold saddle pads on his back or ice cold bits in his mouth! So, a bit more effort to ride, but hey, the days are getting shorter and the times to ride will inevitably dwindle to very few, so it's worth it.

He was a bit bratty during the bridling (he walked off again,) but I could tell he was happy to get out and explore. I had to circle him an extra time around the stump to get him to stand still while I mounted, and after one short loop around the paddock, we ventured out to the driveway. There was a lot of commotion and noise going on down at the bottom of the hill (Micheal's land being forested,) so I opted to let him go right out of the driveway and down to the Dodge farm.

We worked in the field for a while. Lot's of trotting. He was super sluggish today, sucking back and short, but I kept on him with leg and clucking, and tried not to make too big a deal out of it. After a lot of trotting in circles and figure eights, I asked him to canter once in each direction (he picked up the wrong lead on the first try, but I didn't bother correcting him.. it's too hard with the big open field. He was still balanced and forward anyway.)

Then we went right out of the field and down the road to the field across from Lenny's. We marched around there, keeping an eye out for the men in orange carrying rifles, then walked and trotted back up to the Dodge barn. We walked on down past Dad's driveway, braving the loud sounds from the logging at the bottom of the hill, then took a left onto the path that leads back to Dad's backyard. Mostly walking and a few trots, then we back up around the garden and over the stone wall and into our backyard. I asked him to trot up the hill and hop over the little birch cross rail.. he totally missed the distance, but we laughed that off. I turned him around in the road and we walked back over the jump, then trotted over to the other side. He was ready to go back to the barn, but I had him walk back down the steep part of the hill, then we picked up a canter and rode back up to the jump. This time, he hit his mark and hopped over it in grand pony style!

Heading back up from Lenny's to the Dodge barn.

Heading down the hill towards the logging noises at Micheal's

I walked him a little longer, then we headed back to the barn. He went right for the water buckets, and I had to pull him back a couple of times, in fear of too much water after riding. Even though he wasn't very sweaty or wet at all, I put the little blue cooler on him anyway, and then we went out back to graze for a while. He was super chill and happy.

I bet you didn't know that he was the State Fair 1981 Champion!