A nice ride on a sorta cowhorse

I didn't get to riding Doodles yesterday. I was dead tired and rather then exhaust myself more before going to work I opted into some lounge time. Today I rode Gypsy and we had a good ride. I originally wanted to try and use her to pull our lawn mower out of the mud in the back yard. Hey, a western saddle is used to pull cows out of the mud, why not lawn mowers? So I tacked her up in my old, well used but much loved western saddle, breast plate and western headstall with mecate reins. Gypsy looked liked she stepped off a cattle ranch. Me, not so much. I found a long rope I used to use for random things and brought Gypsy out to the stuck mower. I hooked up the rope to the mower and then climbed into the saddle and wrapped the rope around the saddle horn. Gypsy tried her best to back up while pulling the mower but had no luck in moving it. She was a good girl and tried hard for me, but that damn mower was just too stuck. She really wanted to be able to pull it out and was taking her new cow horse role seriously. "Look Mom, this is how the real cow horses do it! I know what I'm doing." After I got off and unhooked the mower Gypsy looked at me like, "I'm a good cow horse, right Mom?" Yes Gypsy, you are a good cow horse but I need to call the neighbor with the tractor to get this thing out of the mud, your marshmallow butt just doesn't have enough power.

Since we were already tacked up and ready to go someplace I figured why not go for a ride. So off we went. We rode to the field next to our house and around it to the graveyard. The gate has been open so I've been able to ride through the graveyard and to the trail that goes behind the church. That trail is all nice and soft with pine needles but does have a few roots showing and few rock spots. Gypsy kept stopping and looking and listening but would move forward again after a moment or two. she kept doing that through out our ride and it was almost like she was taking things in and thinking to herself that "Hey, I'm ok. This is ok. I'm ok. I like this!" After the trail behind the church we headed back but I wasn't ready to end the ride yet. She was being so good so why not go down the road a bit. So off we went. She stopped at her normal spots where she thinks the mailbox or real estate sign is going to eat her but moved forward quickly after she looked around a bit. I'm learning that if I just give her a moment to stop and look and see things she's much more happy to go forward on her own. She's a lookey loo kind of horse I guess. We rode down the road for a bit and then I convinced her that she can in fact step over some big rocks and go down the trail that leads to the camp by the river. Once on that trail I could feel that she was happy and proud of herself. She broke into a little trot, which I allowed but then that trot turned into a happy bucking fest. After she almost unseated me she realized her mistake and walked nicely the rest of the way. Yes, mare, don't kill the one who feeds you. That's bad. Anyways, we rode to the camp and back to the road and then headed home. She did so well today. I'm really happy with her. I gave her a forbidden treat of a peppermint and then turned her back out with Doodles and some hay. Doodles didn't even seem to care that she was gone so that's another bridge we are slowly crossing. I'm hoping to tackle the trail to the sand pit on Friday when I have the day off and can be out a bit longer. I must do it early in the day though, before the four wheelers and dirt bikes take it over.

I wish I could get pictures of our rides but the only camera I have right now is a nice expensive one and I don't want to risk riding with that. I need to get another cheap pocket camera. Maybe this weekend I'll try and pick one up. I also found that my feed store carries Omega Horseshine and I want to try the girls on that. I want to do a little more reseach before I buy it but so far I like the idea of it.