Red & His Cat

I rode yesterday. It was decent - a friend (same one who was actually going to buy Spirit awhile back) came out and we tacked up. I rode like a bag of potatoes, Red was barn sour and the wind was kind of making him mad, but honestly he was a good boy but my legs were still sore and exhausted from our ride on Saturday, in which we rode ALL of the scary trails and ouch, riding down steep hills hurt. Red was probably sore from it too and I kind of got off feeling meh, knowing I should've ridden my horse better and not have let him down by being sloppy. What stinks even more is I have a post drafted that I wrote up on Sunday about how good I'm feeling about my riding ability at the moment.

Oh well, everyone has off days.

Today, the farrier came out. It was a good, short visit. Spirit was sore somewhere and we decided that it was in his hip area, farrier thinks he just tweaked himself somehow by playing hard in the pasture because he's not gimpy or lame, just sore when he had to lift his leg high to get his hoof trimmed. He was a pest but not his usual, "I'm a bad boy for the farrier mwahahaha" kind of way, you could tell he wasn't feeling great. Red did wonderful, I didn't even have to hold him, he just chilled. Halfpint tried to lay down on farrier which was humorous. We went out to feed and I was determined to have a really nice time, even if it was just me hanging with Red in his stall while he was eating. I would make up for the mediocre ride and prove to me and my horse, oh hey, I'm not a potato today. Red and Spirit were in very happy moods and followed us around while we fixed their dinner and while they ate, the barn cat decided to come around again. I saw it for the first time on Saturday, but yesterday it got braver and followed N and I around the whole time while we rode. Red is utterly obsessed with it and pesters it nonstop. It finally let me touch it and once I scratched it's head one time, it decided that I was a great human and wouldn't leave me alone. I'm not a huge cat person but I do like them and I enjoy having them around at the farm, so we'll buy some cat food for it and see if it'll stay around. :)

Once they were done eating, we turned them loose and I took some photos. Red was being a puppy dog and joined right up with me. We walked around the farm together for awhile until he saw the cat and literally trotted around after it when it ran away. The cat finally went into woody area and he stayed right at the bush until I called him over. When I left in the evening, he went back over and tried sniffing it out, haha. Anytime he noticed that it got away, he'd go running for it again. He's really sweet with it so far and just sniffs and hangs out. Spirit isn't a huge fan of the kitty though ;)

Red's hind end looks funky in this because of the angle, but this was when he was following the cat and I thought his expression was adorable, haha!

Our neighbor (J) came around later on and we chatted while Red chilled next to me. I decided to hop on him for a minute with just his halter. Our first "tackless" ride since he's been at home, it was nice to sit on him again like that without anything on. I love having a horse that I can trust like that, no matter how our previous ride had gone. I love using him as a couch, of course.

That was my mounting block!

It sounds odd to a lot of riders, but I enjoy that simple time even more than I enjoy riding itself most of the time. Just sitting on him for a moment, or doing liberty out in the field is so special to me. It strengthens our bond and proves that yes, we still have one, without a doubt. It's been hard since Shalom passed away and Red has helped me get through it a lot easier.

"Who, me?"