Getting ready to hit the roadOkay, maybe not. Certainly Guy Woods did an incredible job with his mustang makeover horse, but I'm feeling pretty darned proud of Sunny today. Here's the scoop:
I'd been out doing my running around in town and on my way home I heard the weather report; rain moving in. No surprise there. But the sun was shining at that moment, so I took advantage of it when I got home and saddled Sunny up, said a prayer for safety, and headed out down the road.
She was a gem. Didn't try to stop and eat the long grass on the shoulder, just followed me at a brisk pace. We rounded a corner and spotted the UPS truck coming out of a driveway towards us. As luck would have it, we were on the only portion of road that had a small shoulder, so I tried to get her off the road just a bit. She really didn't want to move into the brush, but did managed to get herself off the pavement. Never batted an eye as the big truck went past. We hadn't gone far when a van came around the corner from behind. They swung to the far side of the road and Sunny just kept walking along like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
A quarter mile later, we were at the tree farm. This place used to be the old county dump site, but it's now been covered up. Half of it has a parking lot for horse trailers, the other half has a tree farm. A person can either head up the logging road where there are beautiful views across the San Juan Islands, all the way to Victoria, Vancouver Is., or they can take the short trail and circle the tree farm. I opted for the latter.
The tree farm has a road around it; dirt, with big rocks and grasses and weeds growing through. It's wide enough so that you can get a truck around the outside if you should need to. Plenty of room for Sunny and I to walk comfortably together. I swung the end of the lead rope ahead of me to knock down any spider webs (I hate spiders), an occasionally stopped abruptly when I realized one was higher than I'd been swinging. I didn't want to walk into it, after all, and end up with one of those creepy creatures crawling on me! Sunny had to put on the brakes a couple times to avoid rear ending me.
Halfway around, we heard an engine running. Good! Something to use for training. I glanced at Sunny, who apparently didn't hear anything. As we rounded a corner I saw that they had some sort of rig with one of those people baskets...the things with long arms that lift people up high into the air. Two guys were up trimming the tips of the trees. Terrific! Something really spooky! I looked at Sunny, who apparently didn't see anything. Sheesh...deaf and blind, now, she is! When the guys saw the horse, the cut the engine. That got her attention, lol! She looked to see what was going on, but didn't balk and walked right past. Excellent!
There was only one thing that Sunny hesitated over. Poop. She saw horse poop on the trail and insisted upon stopping at each pile to sniff. She was enthralled over horse poop. Guess I know what we have to work on, eh?
Needless to say, I'm very happy with our hour long walk yesterday. If only I could get on her... She's going to make a terrific little horse...someday...
I wish I'd brought the camera, but as it was our first time out I thought it best to leave it behind. Next time, though!
I'd been out doing my running around in town and on my way home I heard the weather report; rain moving in. No surprise there. But the sun was shining at that moment, so I took advantage of it when I got home and saddled Sunny up, said a prayer for safety, and headed out down the road.
She was a gem. Didn't try to stop and eat the long grass on the shoulder, just followed me at a brisk pace. We rounded a corner and spotted the UPS truck coming out of a driveway towards us. As luck would have it, we were on the only portion of road that had a small shoulder, so I tried to get her off the road just a bit. She really didn't want to move into the brush, but did managed to get herself off the pavement. Never batted an eye as the big truck went past. We hadn't gone far when a van came around the corner from behind. They swung to the far side of the road and Sunny just kept walking along like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
A quarter mile later, we were at the tree farm. This place used to be the old county dump site, but it's now been covered up. Half of it has a parking lot for horse trailers, the other half has a tree farm. A person can either head up the logging road where there are beautiful views across the San Juan Islands, all the way to Victoria, Vancouver Is., or they can take the short trail and circle the tree farm. I opted for the latter.
The tree farm has a road around it; dirt, with big rocks and grasses and weeds growing through. It's wide enough so that you can get a truck around the outside if you should need to. Plenty of room for Sunny and I to walk comfortably together. I swung the end of the lead rope ahead of me to knock down any spider webs (I hate spiders), an occasionally stopped abruptly when I realized one was higher than I'd been swinging. I didn't want to walk into it, after all, and end up with one of those creepy creatures crawling on me! Sunny had to put on the brakes a couple times to avoid rear ending me.
Halfway around, we heard an engine running. Good! Something to use for training. I glanced at Sunny, who apparently didn't hear anything. As we rounded a corner I saw that they had some sort of rig with one of those people baskets...the things with long arms that lift people up high into the air. Two guys were up trimming the tips of the trees. Terrific! Something really spooky! I looked at Sunny, who apparently didn't see anything. Sheesh...deaf and blind, now, she is! When the guys saw the horse, the cut the engine. That got her attention, lol! She looked to see what was going on, but didn't balk and walked right past. Excellent!
There was only one thing that Sunny hesitated over. Poop. She saw horse poop on the trail and insisted upon stopping at each pile to sniff. She was enthralled over horse poop. Guess I know what we have to work on, eh?
Needless to say, I'm very happy with our hour long walk yesterday. If only I could get on her... She's going to make a terrific little horse...someday...
I wish I'd brought the camera, but as it was our first time out I thought it best to leave it behind. Next time, though!
Desperate Horsewife
Wild Horse Calendars now available!
http://www.cafepress.com/mustangfever/3572746
Wild Horse Calendars now available!
http://www.cafepress.com/mustangfever/3572746
6 comments:
How great Tracey!! It's just such a wonderful feeling to be making progress!
Henry and I investigated a tarp and large piece of plywood in his run yesterday. Very leary of them but trusted me enough to follow me over them.
I'm totally smitten!
Oh- if you'll look at my profile, Henry has his own page now. Bare bones, but I'm working on it.
Cool beans,Christy! Henry's gonna be a great horse for you. For some reason, blogger doesn't let me click your name and get to your blog. It's like that with about half the names that should have links. Aggrivating! You'll just have to leave the link to Henry's blog!
Very impressive! And the trails sound magnificent! How lucky you are to have trails so close to home.
Sounds to me like you've really gotten some trust established with her. That's such an important part of the whole thing.
Sounds like a wonderful day! I wish I had trails like that right down the road! I'm totally jealous. (Can I come visit someday?)
Poop must be pretty important, all of mine have to investigate if given the chance. Even if it's their own poop.
Christy, I can't get to your page either. Can't wait to see it though!
Hey, y'all come on up! I'd love to have you :) There used to be an eight hour loop that my mom and her friends would make. Naturally, it was while we were stuck in school on sunny fall afternoons.
Poop desensitizing! That should be fun:-) Wonderful day.
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