Sunday, March 22, 2015

Companionship

Today is River's 9th day of limited exercise - she can goof around a little, but she's not to do anything strenuous yet.  Well, that worked out just fine with me, since I had a very busy Sunday scheduled, and I thought it would be good for River and me to just chill and enjoy each other's company.   That's what we did early this morning -  a lot of nothing!

As much as I wanted to turn River out in pasture or in the big arena, she's not allowed to do that yet, so we went down to the good, ol' round pen.  As before, I thought for sure that she would sprint away when I turned her loose, but........no.  She just follows me.





I thought that maybe if I sat up on the railing and let her be, she might go for a little run, but instead this was her signal to get "scratch butt" from me.  These are her ears showing  her unhappiness that I'm not scratching her, even though she so obviously presented that part of her anatomy to me - not only from the right side, but from the left side as well.




Then I get the same stare that I get from Dory when she's  starving (everyone here knows that Dory is never starving),  the "Poor me!" stare.



Next she reaches through the paneling to give me a little nudge with her nose - which in her case sometimes (not this time) turns into a little "love" bite (we are working on making that NOT OK for her to do).



Here are the hopeful, are- you- going- to- do- it- now ears, and yes, she finally convinced me to humor her.




It's hard to scratch with one hand and photograph with the other, but this is River's happy scratch face - she finally got what she wanted (I'm a sucker for a people-loving horse!)






Yes, I'm going to say it - "Why the long face?"  Sorry.  Since River was being awfully cute, but pretty boring, I thought I'd go back up to the barn and get some company for her.  She wasn't really happy that I was leaving, but she stayed quite and very patient until I returned with Prado.







Prado is my Azteca gelding who taught River her first lesson in ponying.  He's quite a handsome character, and such a sweetheart - just like River.



Prado's exuberance in the adjoining arena was contagious, and River finally decided to kick her heels up a little as well.   





They talked a little through the fence, then it was time for me to get on with my busy day.  This wasn't,  however, the end of River's day.




I took River  back to her stall for awhile.  After doing my morning lessons, and then doing the first half  of our bi-monthly Cowboy Dressage Clinics in the afternoon, I thought it would be a good idea for  River to join  us for the second half of the clinic.  We had adjourned to the covered arena to work on the tests, and River "helped" me teach and read the tests.  I had the loud speaker going, and I was also standing up on the high mounting block, which was new for her to see.  There were a lot of horses and people riding or standing by, so it was good for her to stand around and take it all in.   River was, indeed, a big help - studying the tests so she could be ready to read them if needed.






As always, I was very proud of her for handling another new situation with patience and grace.  She spooked a couple of times when things came up from behind her out of the adjoining pasture, and since I wasn't holding on to her very tightly, she got away. She only went a few feet, and waited for me to retrieve her.  It was a little embarrasing to lose her, but good to know that she really didn't want to go anywhere. 




It was so very tempting between calling tests for the riders, when I was scratching her back, to think that I could just put a leg over her back and go for a little ride.  Obviously, that day is awhile away, but, the thought was there!

Even though River and I didn't do any "lessons" today, it is good for both of our souls to just "be", and relish each other's company.  She is so very pleasant and sweet to be around, and I think she enjoys the time we have together as well.  









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