We went left and walked all the way down the road, trotting once or twice on the good parts of the road. He was happy. We took a right onto the path on the Downing's land and meandered around the loop. I considered cutting back to the road on the edge of the field behind their house, but then I spied Mr. D out back working with his tractor, so we quickly turned and walked back, hopefully before he spotted us! I'm not sure if he would care or not that we were walking around on this back property, but I wasn't in the mood to have a conversation anyway. I'm sure he must have noticed the Possum poops on his paths by now!
So, out the way we came, and we turned right and kept going, and stopped at another little path across the road that I've always noticed but never ventured onto yet. Possum said, hey, let's check it out! So, I said, Okay, I'm game, and off we went. Another little logging path, circling around and a bit mucky at points.. but, after circling about for a while, we ended up coming out into the field at the very end of New Road, which we've explored a few times before. Possum really seemed to enjoy exploring the new paths, though, and remained very calm and interested the whole time. Coming down off the bank of the big field, he jumped into a nice trot, and I let him continue trotting for another stretch. Then we slowed to a walk and ambled past Laughing Tree Farm and all the way back to the corner.
Back at the barn, he went right for the water bucket again... I popped the blue cooler on him for a few minutes, brushed him down, and let him go. He was content, and so was I.
Thursday morning was lesson day! I got him fed by 7:15, and around 8:30, wearing my old polyester breeches over long johns, my old, worn brown paddock boots, the new black half chaps, and of course the hunter's orange sweat shirt over a few other layers, we got ready to head over to the Dodge farm. Possum was very agreeable, despite the nip in the air.
We calmly walked over to catch Ryan lunging Big Mack while Donna closely observed and listened. Mack looked very good. Then, Donna got on and rode around the paddock for a while. Meanwhile, Possum and I walked all around the big field, and picked up a few short trots to warm up.
After Donna put Big Mack away, she dragged over three left over wooden fence posts and laid them out with plenty of distance between them, in a line (something we've talked about doing for a while!) Telling Ryan about how sluggish and sucked back Possum felt on my Tuesday ride, she offered to hop on him for a bit, and I was more than willing to have her do that! Always great to watch a good rider ride, especially the horse you ride!
She "woke him up," with clucking, kicking and with the bat, and explained more to me about just giving him that wake up call to let him know we were ready to "work." If I just let him act like a slug, then that's what he will be - however, if I am clear and direct and ask for more Possum with a kick, a cluck and/or the bat or crop, then I have let him know that it's time to move. She reminded me that the horse should be carrying me, not the other way around!
So, I hopped back on, and we trotted around for a bit more, and he was much better. Then, we went over to the fence posts laying on the ground, and trotted over those a few times, the last time with me riding in "half-seat," or "jumping position." He was excellent, and I could not stop smiling. So much fun to have a better riding relationship with Possum!
After the lesson, we ambled back home, and he was content again.
Friday, "day 75," was even cooler, plus, the WIND! Well, it wasn't that strong, but still, it was there, and it was effecting his mood, for sure. After Donna and I took our weekly walk, we made plans to meet up later with the horses. I rode Possum up to her barn around 1 in the afternoon, and Donna caught Big Mack and tacked him up. She stayed in her fenced in areas and mostly walked around, and she felt good about that - he was very good. Possum and I trotted around the field, and also trotted over the rail lines a few times. We also cantered once. Then, she and I just let the boys stand in the sun, as we chatted. They really liked that! Just hanging!
Though the sun was out, it was feeling chilly just standing around, so we said goodbye and headed out of the barn's driveway. Suddenly, Possum went lame! I hopped off right away, and sure enough, their was an angled rock, about the size of a golf ball, lodged into his off side front hoof just between the frog and the shoe! It took me a second or two, but I managed to unwedge it. I got back on, using the granite bench as a mounting block, and was relieved to feel that he was not sore.
We walked back to our driveway, and I let him decide if he wanted to head back to the barn or not, and was surprised to see that he wanted to keep going! So, we rode down to Dad's and behind the house, then back to down the path just behind his house and wandered deeper into the woods. He really enjoyed that! Then we marched back up the hill and over to our backyard. We picked up a sweet little canter and slowed to a walk just by our bulkhead to the basement, then walked into the barn. Once again, he went right for the water bucket!
I let him drink a little, then made him stop for a bit, then let him drink some more. He wasn't sweaty at all, and I brushed him down and rubbed his face, then let go in the paddock - a much more relaxed pony then when we started the ride (wind wind go away!)
He got his pellets and another big round of hay flakes at 5, then we left for our gig at 6. When we got back at 12:30 in the morning, the wind had died down, and he was hanging out around the stall, munching away on hay.
I love that sound and that view.
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