happenstance is falling through the cracks each day

Today was a very good day at Honeysuckle Faire. I enjoyed my ride because, although my Dad has been in the ICU since Monday afternoon, he seems to be feeling better. Hooray!! Above is a postcard of the motel my grandfather built in the early sixties. You can just barely see my Dad in the red shirt putting on the Par 3 golf course. Thanks for the kind thoughts and comments!

I rode Sovereign bareback yesterday and he was very good. He isn't the most comfortable bareback horse to ride. Mom jokes that Pie is our "Bareback Boy" because he is like a big, soft waterbed. Sovey isn't and that is all I will say about that! (Ouch!) I felt sorry for him, though, always having the saddle recently, so I gave him the bridle-only treatment. He is a funny horse. I know he likes riding with Pie, and I know he loves investigating new places, but he is very serious when I ride him alone. He is not always animated. I solved this early on by taking him out of the ring, and then to new trails. Now we are running out of trails that he doesn't know by heart. He is so kind and safe, but I worry that he isn't having fun. I do finally think it is time to start some relaxed "work" (trotting and eventually cantering) to mix it up a bit for him mentally. I wasn't too enthusiastic anyway yesterday, so we were two Sad-Sacks together.

Pie is anything but a Sad-Sack. He is dewy-eyed with the anticipation of every ride. Today I rode him over to a subdivision closer to town. Thursday is the day for the nearby loud Auto-Auction. It is also trash day. The trash truck was screeching and gurgling practically beside Pie, and Sovey was whinnying, yet Pie just looked and kept right on walking. He is amazing. His happy steps stopped when I turned him to go home. He bulked and was obviously pouting because we had to return! I think I could have walked across the state if I wanted - as long as I didn't turn to go back home!

When we got back to the farm, a group of colorfully clothed daycare children from the church across the street came over to see the horses. Sovey was in the pasture and I was still on Pie. There were two teachers and about 15 kids of all shapes and ages! Wow! I was worried that we might have a situation on our hands. We all congregated in a field too near the road for my comfort. Right away I cautioned them to stay back and not to come over to our farm if I wasn't around. Pie was enamored with the children, and poor honey Sovey was forgotten behind the fence. Little hands were reaching and I saw fingers that could easily be mistaken for baby carrots so I dismounted and conducted an impromptu horse safety seminar! They all did get to touch the big boy which was wonderful to witness. Pie loved their giggles. He bent his silly big head down to see them better. It really was precious. Last year I helped introduce Maizie's Brownie troop to horses. We groomed Baja and talked about horse safety. The difference is that I was prepared that day, and Baja was safely cross-tied. And, of course, Baja was 14 years old. Mr. Baby Pie-Pie isn't the most experienced with this sort of thing, but he was just terrific. I don't think they got the message that horses are dangerous, however. Every time I would say that to the children, Pie would bend his neck and head down like a roly-poly circus trained puppy. The teachers told me that next Friday is their "Pet Day" and they hope we can walk the horses over! Yeah, right! I am not sure they understand!

Later in the afternoon, my friend Ginny stopped by and we took the boys out for a "walk" on lead lines. That was really fun. Maizie and her friends were galloping around on foot and in the golf cart and Ginny and I were grazing the boys, walking, and talking. I was able to stop worrying for awhile and it felt very good!