Sunny Days

Sun! And walking is a bliss with the cold clear weather of these days. When I am out there in the woods, the steady clip clop of Kaylee's feet by my shoulder and the mane and tail of TomBoy bouncing and swinging like a fountain of spun gold before me, it is really easy to think that there is nothing, nothing better than this, and that Icould walk on and on like that forever, "into the land of sunset".

Romantics apart, walking with the blondies is becoming more and more enjoyable as our relation (and communication) improves and they come to trust us more and more.

We come to know each other better each day, and deal better with our various eccentricities. TomBoy is a strong and eager horse with a superabundance of energy that seems to spill over at the beginning of a walk, sometimes in an explosive way, and he needs a steady hand and a close eye for half an hour or so, lest he takes off bucking in ebullient equine happiness over the fields. Kaylee on the other hand always looks like a martyr at the beginning of each walk until she becomes warmer and looser. Longing may help with both, a skill on wich we are all working.

After a period of being skittish on the path whenever anything happened (a noise in the woods, a family walking down the road, a dog, a woodpile, another horse, a bike a car, a flock of geese overhead... you get the idea) they are now much calmer. I hope it means they trust our judgement more. Yesterday we had a long walk to the cute village of Lutz, met people, cars, horses, dogs, and no reaction at all. I do devoutly hope we do not have to test this new diligent attitude with another "snuffle" of wild boars! A dashy, classy, white arabian stallion begged to be introduced to Kaylee, with very obvious intentions, but she never even looked at him.