Arrived early (okay, around 8). It was rainy and foggy-- there was a car there, but no one in the main barn. Robert's truck was there but no one answered the door. 8 was when the Percherons were supposed to start their lesson, so I was baffled.

But no, one of their women was just trying to get the mud off of them. The other is fresh out of surgery and NOT supposed to be anywhere near horses, so I tacked up Duke for her and didn't mess up hugely. It probably helped that I asked her to make sure everything was right. We put them on the new, shiny red wagon that made lots of scary noises and went off.


The boys did very well with scary new things. After a few circuits I noticed it was 9:30 and the minis had arrived, so we went into the jump arena and I hopped down to get Lil and cameras and minis. Danny was pissed that he had to work twice in one week, and was prancing and rearing and bucking this session. It was entertaining. They're really damn cute.


The minis got outside. Look how adorable they are!

The drafts were asked to go deep into a corner, and the minis to cut far ahead so the drafts could see them. Duke had seen the minis once before, but Bob hadn't. Their eyes bugged out of their heads a little. The minis didn't care too much, but they didn't like the creaking and the harness jingling of the big guys.

At least they didn't have the "those are TINY demons on wheels" reaction that many horses do.

Boring, cart-centric day after that. I sanded down several pieces, um... put the dashboard together, I think? I have terrible spatial abilities, so where everything is going is still distinctly fuzzy. Started sealing the wood, and oh it's gonna look so pretty!

I grabbed Reno for a quick drive. He was very good, if a little strong, but I do hate when he canters. We did a little over 1 lap walking, little under 2 trotting, and he barely sweat at all (2.4 miles, I believe). I am finding that I really enjoy taking horses out for drives by myself; I like Robert, obviously, but it's like taking a horse out for a run but easier. I tell them what gait I want, and I leave them alone. We both like going fast and this way, I'm not interfering with their motion in a more than minimal way.

I need to do some productive riding. Keno, Papillon, and Star could all use rides. I haven't seen Sam around in a few weeks, and BJ always looks at me enticingly. I probably could use a slightly pissy pony for forty five minutes or something. I'm not really having any fun riding right now, but it'll come back. Soon, I hope. I really do need lessons. Maybe I'll ask Cari if I can be an irregular, once-a-month-ish student. Where I can just ride a nice, relaxed horse and have someone else tell me what to do.