We finally had a break in the weather this morning. I feel like I've been away so much I'm not sure if this is 'normal' weather or as crazy as I feel like it is. Either way, we've had tons of monsoon like rain and high winds (anyone see the Seahawks game yesterday? - Like that!) day after day this past week.
Ginger had to have this happen the other day:
 |
| Let me out! |
Because she was spending her days like so, and getting soaking wet and cold:
 |
| "Hi, sorry, can't stop, Cob Patrol sensing activity on the outside perimeter - must investigate!" |
This morning, we finally got off the property. I opted to just take Ginger up the road to the community ring and back home in a big loop. It was about an hours walk, not counting the time spent at the ring. Since we are pushing 9 months without a ride, I figured leading her it would be an easy and safe way to get her back into work, plus it would give her an easy introduction to the neighbourhood. It's sort of a mix of bigger working farms, some residential, and a whole lot of 'executive' homes with 5 acre lots/hobby farms. It's definitely as close to the country as you'll find around here, but still quite busy by any standard. There are tons of sights out there I'm pretty sure Ginger has never encountered!
There's huge shoulder on the road that everyone rides on, but still, the drivers were horrible and speeding past us - even accelerating before they were fully past us. Ginger was a bit spooky and looky but surprisingly the cars weren't an issue at all for her this morning - good pony! I would never claim she is 100% yet with traffic, but she was excellent today and would have fooled anyone into thinking she's done it a million times. It was only a short walk up to the ring, where I opted to lunge her. It was then I noticed the cars on the road sounded like they were doing highway speeds. So I guess they were slowing down for us after all? The ring itself is small but decent, but there was a lot of weirdness going on up there in general - first off a peacock (I think?) going crazy in the bushes/trees next to the ring, then 4 or 5 dogs running around barking at some horses in a pasture next to us. So loud, and I was worried they were going to hurt one of the horses because they were obviously trying to chase the horses. It must be a common thing because the horses just ignored them. Next, some lady and a man were screaming "GO HOME" over and over. Ginger was perfect to lunge anyways. It was hard to restrain myself and keep things easy for her, because she was being super obedient and focused. She was probably on her best behaviour so I wouldn't leave her there! I think the people were yelling at the dogs, but I got weirded out and left with just a quick visit just in case they were screaming at me. Not sure I want to go back there, thank goodness I have a friend with a ring that lives equally as close!
 |
| Let's get out of here, this place is crazy! |
 |
| Halting and standing quietly even with all the chaos going on around us. Sorry, no action shots - I'm having enough problems getting my coordination back lunging her without adding a camera to the mix :) |
Our walk home was as uneventful as the walk there. We did a big loop because Ginger was obviously enjoying the outing. She was perfect to lead, and while she was obviously looking at things and concerned about some of it, she didn't put a foot wrong. Today would have been a challenge for her at any time, but I'm super impressed she handled it so well after so much time off. I think I'm going to be totally fine to just get on and start out with some short rides in the very near future :)
Finally, here's a photo of how my day started. I had to return home partway through my run to fix this. Happy to say things improved from there lol
 |
| Someone needs to go back to kindergarten. And it's not Ginger. |
No comments
Post a Comment