A week later...

What? You didn't expect to find sheep here?

So here I am, back home. It's been over a week since I had my fun little encounter with Sunny and Quiet Storm. My knee is bruised and the leg still sensitive. It must have twisted pretty darned good, that's all I can say, as walking across the not so even pasture puts stress on it and I don't move very fast. Flat surfaces, however, are easy to negotiate and I can get to the barn and back with no feelings of pain.

It's been raining since we've returned home from the fair; the paddock is slicker than snot on a door knob. No working horses with footing like that. Jet is still her curious, friendly self. Sunny has done exactly what I feared she would do if left unattended; she's reverting to wild. It's hard to believe that just a week without being handled would have her so stand-offish again. She'll grab hay from my arms, but she doesn't want to stand to be touched, instead turning her butt towards me and moving away. With the slick footing, I'm not going to pressure her. No point in either one of us slipping out there.

I don't expect it'll take much to turn her around. She's had people walking in and out of her paddock to feed while Darling and I were gone, so she's not gotten back to the hard core fear. Just prefers not to be handled. I don't expect she'll ever be a buddy horse...one of those that truly bonds with someone. It would be nice if she found that someone out there, but she would appear to be the type of horse who'll always hold a bit of mistrust close to her heart. Sad, isn't it? To live a life that way, never feeling confident enough to totally relax around someone?

Let me tell you just a little bit about our week away! The fair held it's first ever dairy sheep class, and of course we made up the bulk of it. Four of the five sheep were ours, and the fifth one is one we sold to her current owner. If you're not familiar with 4-H, it's judged on the Danish system, meaning everyone gets a ribbon. It's rather like grades at school, some kids get A's, some B's and so on. Darling earned blue ribbons in all ten of her classes. The other girls in our club also earned blues in all of their classes. The club earned a plaque for Inspirational Club of the Week. All told, it was a great week. We're glad to be home, however, and in our own beds!

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