I've been one poor correspondent

Look at those adorable long bunny ears! Can you guess who they belong to?  Yes, they are the crazy long ears of one cute Found in the Fog as we headed out on our ride this morning.  I've been one poor correspondent and I've been too, too hard to find recently in the blogger world mainly because my real life has taken over my virtual life!  Riding three horses, petsitting our usual summer puppy friends, and mostly being Maizie's mommy has taken me away from the computer.  I can't say I am sorry though - summer is too short to miss!

These ears, above, are also from this morning, but these are Pie's ears. I rode him first.  Here he is, below, trying to touch the mailbox so I will give him a treat!

When Pie and Sovereign first came to our farm, they loved to head out through the fields on our rides and it was difficult to get them to go back to the barn.  Sometimes my rides stretched into two hour adventures because they just never had enough.  I loved that!  After a year or so, though, both horses were done with adventuring.  I ride them out each day happily, but they don't seem to want to go much farther than our borders.  Also, they walk back to the barn/pastures willingly, if not, quickly.  

Now that Foggy is with us and I am able to ride him, I am noticing the very same initial desire to go out far and I am having difficulties getting him back to the barn after we go out.  Does anyone know what causes this? 

Foggy is attached to Pie and Sovey.  He doesn't like to graze or be away from the barn if they are in the barn. He will call and rush back to the barn. Yet, when I ride him, he wants to leave and just keep going. He could care less about them. 

Today, I took him out much farther than I ever had before on the trails. When it was time to come home, he would not go forward in that direction. He wants to head east. If I trick him and take him another way, as soon as he spies the barn, he circles and tries to head away.  Pie and Sovey used to do the very same thing in the first year they were with us. I had to dismount sometimes to get them back to the barn.  Today, I had to dismount to get Foggy back home too. I am not really complaining - I love a horse that is willing to keep riding.  But, I know how this goes. It happened with the other two.  They just stopped wanting to go out far one day and now their homing device is set to the barn.  I used to think it was Philadelphia, where they all came from - east of us that was "calling" the horses home. Really though, it is any direction away from what they know. It is exactly like they want to see what is out there, but after a year, they don't care anymore.  I have to force Pie and Sovey to investigate uncharted land now, but for the first year, they pulled me to see more.  Now Foggy is in that stage.  I don't want it to end, but I wish I knew what was going on and why it happens like this. 

In addition, I am still riding Foggy bareback because he is built weird and skinny right now and I don't think my saddle fits him correctly. When Pie and Sovey were in their early investigation stage, at least I had a saddle and stirrups so I could lean forward and comfort them (myself) by patting (grabbing) mane. With Foggy, I am out there bareback and bitless and pretty much along for the ride as he happily walks around the farm. He is much smaller than the other two in height so I reassure myself that a fall won't hurt quite as much! I wish I could keep them all this interested in walking far away from the farm forever. I guess it is a good thing -  I probably wouldn't ever come home. 

Here is Foggy seeing a new neighboring field for the first time this morning.  The Pennsylvania Turnpike is on the other side and the loud trucks were racing. He could care less - he just kept moving forward away from the barn with a purpose. 

I adore this photo!!!!  Somehow, I captured Foggy's quick side glance at a scary object. A year from now, he will shy big at all this like Pie and Sovey do now when they see scary things. But, in this early stage, nothing is too frightening - a quick glance and then he keeps moving away from the barn.  What is this all about and why can't they stay like this?

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We have had gorgeous sunsets every night here of pink and orange and blue. Too lovely for words. And, this second there are singing birds and fragrant Locust and Chinese Chestnuts trees wafting their evening scents all around. June 21st is sweet and sorrowful all at the same time. I can almost forget summer's bugs right now.

On Thursday, Maizie and Brian achieved their Jubilee Day goals of pull-ups (him 25) and flexed arm hang (her 76 seconds) and earned their Marine Corps t-shirts that say "Pain is weakness leaving the body". How funny is that? Here are videos of them!

Tonight I was rushing around trying to clean up after dinner and get Maizie to her tennis practice.  I glanced in the mirror and said, "Oh, my goodness...look at me!"  I still had on my barn clothes and my face was dirty and my hair was nutty. Maizie said sweetly, "I think you look pretty, Mama."  Then she added, "In an Albert Einstein sort of way."