10/05/09 Romeo On the Road

I drove right on by the mailbox on the way home. Romeo had a previous terrored fear of the mailbox, and the weather was keen today for checking if we had conquered that.

(And a good plan too, as parts of the arena are still puddled - should be better tonight for a good solid Ransom lunging.)

Saddled him up Western, french link bit, and offs we went. He very confidently walked at a steady pace across the front yard towards the mailboxes. I could almost feel his body language saying, "Yup, Mom's determined. I've got a job to do, I can feel the way she's sitting on me, and where she's looking. Follow her eyes, follow her eyes." I started him out in a steady trot where I knew it would be quiet & not distracting. He swished right through all the tall grasses, peeking here & there to make sure we were safe, ears pointed straight out forward, listening for the slightest sounds.

We got all the way to the mailbox, had a little "brain fart" with the darker pavement again (giggle, fixed with me dismounting & stepping on it). I was able to walk him towards the mailbox from both left & right, opening it and sticking my hand inside. No mail, however, so that made the trip fun.

Started back towards the house, and snapped a couple quick pictures, because I could. *grins*

Here's what the road looks like heading back to my house (which is just past the trees on the left - can you see it?).

Romeo's looking towards the neighbor's under-water-puddle pasture, taking a hard look at the light-colored pony calling out to him. That was the extent of his reaction, with three of their horses in pasture, all staring and calling out, both to and from the mailboxes. Good Boy!

Now we're checking out the neighbor's kids out playing ball. This was just after going through one muddy ditch that was a puddle yesterday. He carefully picked his way through the few feet of yuck, then peered off to the right to make sure those kids didn't need him for anything before taking me home.

Probably one of the funniest parts of the ride was the mole. Heading to the boxes, right before the neighbor's pasture, there was a mole crossing the road. Romeo gave it a look, recognized it, and kept on going, head down. That mole, however, was none to happy about us being on "the other side of the road" with him. He looked up at us, mouth wide open, making an awful hissing noise, eyes about as big as his head. Can you imagine looking up and seeing hooves coming towards you?! Yikes!

We rode for about a half hour, wandering past the house, navigating a few more puddles for practice, leaving hoofprints down the road in both directions. I paid attention to the prints - I saw hoof edge imprints, and frog imprints. Pretty cool! On the way home, I looked at his out-going tracks - he was tracking up at the walk, though it never even felt like it. Just a wandering, meandering, peaceful ride.