Birds On a Roof

And not just any birds - waterfowl. As I left the house to walk to the barn this morning, there was a Mallard Duck standing on the ridge of a neighbor's house. As I was taking out horses this morning, there were two Canada Geese standing on the ridge of Lily's old outdoor shed - right on the way to the pastures. I'm not sure how waterfowl manage this feat - they don't have the feet for perching or standing on surfaces that aren't flat. Maisie noticed the geese, but wasn't perturbed. Sugar and Misty came next (after Sugar trod soundly on my foot being a bit bargey coming out of the stall - we had a do-over on that one) and they didn't seem to notice the geese at all.

Dawn noticed the geese - Dawn notices everything. There was blowing and snorting, and at one point it looked like she was thinking of running over me - not an option as I made clear. Fortunately I had a pocketful of treats, so I clicked and gave her a treat at various points for standing calmly. She decided the geese weren't so bad after all, and we made it safely to the pasture. As I was walking back in, the geese went into a honking, neck-snaking display and flew off - I'm glad no horse had to witness that, especially Fred and Fritz who were next in line.

* * * * * *

Maisie and I got in a good ride this afternoon. We went on a short trail ride at the walk as a warm-up. She was pretty relaxed - warm temperatures and a belly full of grass help a lot. Then we went to the arena - she balked for a moment at the gate (she had already tried to head to the mounting block, thinking she was done), but then went in. We did some vigorous trot work - lots of 20-meter circles and serpentines at sitting trot and some stretches of straight-line work at rising trot asking for a bit of lengthening. She was extremely forward but controlled and responsive. Now that she's sound and able to use her hind end properly, she's got a very powerful trot and a lot of impulsion for me to work with.

A good ending to a day that started out a bit strangely!