Willie's Weekend

I feel bad when I can't rotate the boys evenly through blog posts, because for so many years this was Willie's show, and it was a solo act.  Even though my heart still does a special pitter-pat when those fuzzy ears swivel towards me, there are only so many ways to make Willie's daily routine interesting:   Oh, today he got fed, and then groomed, and then we meandered around the block before he got groomed again and fed again and turned back outside.   PS, we did some carrot stretches and I shared my banana with him at lunch.

This weekend he got to shine, though.  On Saturday, it was bitterly cold and windy.  Both farms are in a wind tunnel, so the winter temperatures always feel about 10° colder, and a "windy" forecast means I'll be walking doubled over and struggling to not let the wind snatch entire bales of hay from my hands.  Of course, with the wind and cold come some extra-sparky ponies, and unfortunately for our newest boarder's granddaughter, it meant riding was out of the question.   They currently have their mare on trial and it seems to be a bit of a mismatch even on the best of days. On this blustery afternoon, there was no way a slight 9y/o was going to keep control of the horse.  The little girl, S, has a strong dose of the Horse Bug, though, and she was crestfallen to get to the barn only to be told that she wouldn't be riding.  I offered up Willie, and she jumped at the chance.

He was feeling really good that morning, and if I had gotten on, he probably would have been feeling frisky, and maybe throwing in a few playful bucks as he asked to gallop.  But Will wears many hats, and he knows each of his jobs well. When we brought him out to the pony pen and boosted S into the saddle, he stood stone-still while I wrapped my stirrups for her, and waited for her signal to amble placidly forward.

S has been taking lessons for a while, and has the makings of a good little rider, so she didn't take long to pick up on the idea of How to Keep the Lazy Pony Moving Past the Treat Lady.  After a few minutes of walking and turning, I felt like she was secure enough, so I asked if she wanted to try a trot.  Of course she said yes to that, too.  Willie, on the other hand, needed a lot more convincing!  Eventually I grabbed a crop and handed it to her, instructing her not to touch him with it unless I said so, and I held a dressage whip in my own hand.  It took a lot of urging, and a little whip-waving from me, but eventually we got Willie jogging most of the way around the small enclosure with her.   He watches out for his riders and every time he felt S get a little off-balance, he would slow back to a walk or halt so she could fix herself.   I was really glad for that, because I have been trying to find a tactful way to explain the things a good "kid-safe" horse should do, and Willie helped me out by demonstrating perfectly.  The sentiment is unanimous:  everyone's first horse should be this awesome. ;)

When we were all feeling frozen, we called it quits and went back inside.  I had shown S how Willie gives kisses on command, so of course she kept begging for just one more cookie to ask for more kisses, and she gave him lots of kisses of her own.  She professed her love for him, and apparently when she stopped back by the barn the next day Willie was all she could talk about.   I told her that she can ride him any time that I'm at the barn, and in fact it works out well for Willie because he gets to have a "job" that isn't physically taxing, and I feel less guilty about not riding him myself.  As a former Horseless & Penniless kid with an obsession, I also don't mind enabling the equally-obsessed kids with a good work/learning ethic.  Even though it's not the same as having a horse of your own, I know how it is to get extra riding time on different horses -- particularly safe, charming ones like Willie!

As it turns out, Saturday morning the chiropractor managed to squeeze Jabby in at the last minute.  She had just been away for a week and a half and was heading out of town again shortly, but I was so happy to get him done that I agreed without a second thought.  I completely forgot about the fact that someone had invited to trailer us to my favorite Park on Sunday -- our first "outing" together, the first time trailering Jabby anywhere to ride.  Unfortunately the chiropractor on Saturday meant a light day for Jabby on Sunday... But fortunately for me, I happen to have two horses, and so Willie got to stand in!

Our driver was meeting up with a friend, so the three of us and our horses headed out into the cold.  Thankfully it wasn't as windy as the day before, but it was even colder!   I hadn't realized that hunting is now allowed in the WMAs on Sundays (previously Sunday was the one day we could ride without worry), but my friends were equipped with bells and blaze orange, and I had the good fortune to wear my neon blue breeches and a bright red jacket that I got from my London adventure a few years ago.  (I said good fortune, not good taste.)

We still had a really nice (hunter-free!) ride, covering nearly 8 miles (give or take; Google Earth is not an exact science when you don't have visible roads!) in just under 3 hours. [EDIT:  I heard back from one of our friends who was carrying a GPS, and apparently we logged just under 10 miles!] Obviously, the pace was quite slow, though we threw in a bit of trotting and cantering here and there.  I was happy to see Willie seemed to be in better shape than the other two, because if we go five miles in one session it's a lot these days, and he hasn't been out into the Assunpink or anywhere we can't ride from the farm for probably over a year.   His walk has slowed down over the years, but he was still keeping ahead of our companions easily at most points of the trail.

At one point my feet were completely frozen and Willie was being a grump because, according to his calculations, the ride was half over and we should have turned left to get back to the trailer.  While he was technically right, we were taking the long way back, so as he sulked and scuffed his feet, I hopped down and walked for maybe half a mile to get my circulation going again.   It was a gravel/dirt road, up a slight slope but not too bad.  We all had to laugh, though, when we realized that Willie and I were still outpacing our new friends with me on foot!

We also ran into the hunt club, and my friend KR (with the track in her backyard) waved as she rode past.  The hounds about gave Willie a fit, because we had just passed a group of hunters training their dogs, which made him pin his ears.  When a swarm of baying, bounding hounds came past, he about took off after them with teeth gnashing.  Have I mentioned that Willie is really more of a cat person?

All in all it was a good ride, though, and I'm glad I ended up taking Willie after all. I missed adventuring with my Super Pony, so it was nice to have him in the spotlight again for the weekend.  I'm also happy to say that I now have my trail permit for the 2012 season, so if I can beg a few more rides off of people, maybe we'll start getting out and about again!