The Shadow Knows

Today was our fourth venture into the Outside World (outside of an arena that is)...with an impossibly blue sky overhead, a gusty cold wind that was mercifully blocked by the forest, birdsong in both our sets of ears, and the promise that hey, that snow WILL eventually melt...all the way! Some day.

Quzqo was in a good mood, one of the benefits of heading to the barn during the daytime before he's all tired and yawning from his busy horsey day of eating, pooping, and rampaging around with his fellow "Bad Boyz" in the pasture. Horses in a good mood are so much easier to deal with.

We didn't go for any major excursion, just a nice 90 minute trip around the neighborhood. Again I forgot to attach my pommel bag, which meant I had to pass up 6 beer cans on the roadside...Michigan has the 10 cent deposit on beverage cans, and I like to gather them up on dog walks and trail rides...those dimes add up! But with no place to carry them...I suppose I could have tied them to the horse's tail, that would have gone over well! I bet I would have made it back to the barn in record time!

Finally the snow had disappeared enough that we could head INto the woods a little bit, though all north ditches were still filled with a yard of snow or so, so we couldn't go our usual route, and I didn't feel like riding through the scary Redneck White Trash Michigan Hillbilly neighborhood (I have got to get photos one of these times, but frankly, that's not a stretch of road I want to ride one-handed through).

Quz was fine in the confines of the trees, and seemed almost genuinely interested... maybe because there was nothing to distract him such as lush, delicious maple leaves dangling at lip-height to try to grab as we walk by. We did encounter quite a few stretches of snow on the trail from an inch to maybe 6 or 8 inches deep. I swear he got "stuck" in one deep snow pile and almost refused to move...I got him unstuck and we made it through and out of the woods.

Only then did I see the new, bright "NO TRESPASSING" signs!

Well, heck, they need to post them on the OTHER side of the property where I went in...how was I supposed to know! Sheesh!

Hm...the forest IS for sale (nice 5 acre lots)...I could say I was interested in buying and was just checking out the land on horseback...yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!

We got a good amount of trotting in, some GREAT cantering too...that boy can canter when he has a mind to! We need to work on that fabled "Arabian Endurance" though...again he quit on his own to huff and puff and flare his nostrils. I think he's losing weight, or maybe it's just him losing his winter fur that makes him seem thinner. I need to lose my winter fur so I look thinner too!

Four successful trips into the great outdoors without too much drama. Lord willing, tomorrow, I drive!