Exciting Encounters ;)

The weather right now is really messing with the footing, freezing, then just warm enough to get everything soaking wet and then freezing again, sigh. Yesterday was one of the freezing days. I tried to do some ridden walk work first in the arena then in the flattest area of the pasture, but it was just to hard and bumpy, Barokko took teeny tiny steps and couldn't relax. So instead, we walked out to the woods with another boarder.

There's a lake just at the start of the woods, and yesterday there were kids skating on it, playing hockey = some very wierd noises echoing through the ice every time they hit it with their sticks. Both horses got themselves pretty worked up about it, but we made it past with only a little dancing.

Then we had an exciting encounter with a Daschound and its owner - it came running up from behind, yelping like mad. Barokko's not normally scared of dogs, but he really didn't like having it running around right behind his hind legs! The owner came running out of the woods screaming at the dog (not making my job of getting Barokko to relax any easier), and then he decided that throwing a glove at the dog would be a good way of distracting it - well, that might have worked, except he hit Barokko instead of the dog >:( BUCK! and a HUGE flying leap forward, but he didn't run off. I was able to stop and turn him right after the initial shock reaction. I gave him a good pat, and as soon as the dog had been leashed we walked on.

No further encounters until we had to pass the lake again on our way home. They both tensed up as we got close to it, and when we turned the corner - away from the scary sounds and toward home, bad combo - they got themselves worked up, Barokko would have set off at a galop if I had let him, while T was bucking in place, and unseated his rider (she was riding without a saddle). Luckily, she caught his reins so he didn't run off, but he jumped around the rest of the way home, completely uninspired by Barokko, who had now calmed down and was just mosying contentedly homeward.

I was very pleased with my horse after that ride, good boy :)