Yesterday was to be my first Tuesday Driving Day.  But I got off track.  It was hot and buggy.  I brought the horses into the barn for the afternoon with the plan to trim feet and work on some ground work in preparation for driving.  I got distracted by unpacking some remaining boxes in the barn and moving the wagonette to the arena, where I want to use it with Ripple.  Soon I was hanging hooks and pictures in arena and barn.  Soon after that, it was 4pm…

Disgusted with my distractability, I pulled Bogie out to trim his feet.  He was surprisingly good.  Calm and cooperative.  Not his typical distracted self.  So when my boarder, Pam arrived and asked if I wanted to go for a short ride, I agreed and saddled up Bogie.  I haven’t ridden him since last fall.  I restarted him under saddle last summer and he is a fun ride, but can be alittle tense.  I didn’t have any serious concerns yesterday but did think to grab my helmet.  Well his calm, relaxed manner evaporated when my featherless frizzle chicken popped out of the chicken coop as I was mounting.  The saddle slid over and Bogie proceeded to buck like a bronc.  I had not a hope in the world of staying on, having never really been completely ‘on’ in the first place.  Laying on the ground, I was grateful for the forethought of the helmet. 

I collected my horse, re-evaluated his state of mind, cinched him up and remounted.  We ‘enjoyed’…..I use the word euphimistically….a short trail ride.  Long enough to restore our confidence, but short enough to stay out of trouble… and then I traded him in for a bareback ride on Manny to unscrew my tense back muscles. 

Once I felt my sanity and relaxation return, I dismounted.  Manny followed me out of the arena for some grazing and I went into the barn to prepare dinner for the horses.  As I called Manny in for dinner, Pam commented on the wonderful relationship I have with Manny…how harmonious it is and how we obviously ‘get’ each other.  As often happens when I think about the long road Manny and I have traveled, I sighed and wished Manny and I could stay young forever so we could enjoy this peaceful relationship, now that we had finally acheived it, for longer.  Then returning my attention to Bogie….now pacing his stall looking for his buddy….I sighed again and wondered if I had the stamina to forge another working relationship with this young horse.

I had a plan for the day.  Its hard to know if I erred  by deviated from it.  Sometimes a day just takes on a life of its own.