My lessons with Flossie, a roan Standardbred mare |
FLOSSIE'S 246th LESSON When I arrived at Des’ this morning, I had the entire place to myself. Even the power machines by the railroad tracks next to Des’ property were motionless. There wasn’t a soul in sight. In fact, there was nothing moving, and there were no sounds other than the occasional call of a bird, or the susurrus sound of a magpie’s wing over my head. (One was dipping pretty low for some reason and swept down about five times). Flossie was obedient for me both on the track and on the circle and I have no real news to talk about in that regard. She was a little spooky here and there, but it was simple spooking and all in fun. Just as I took her off the track, all-of-a-sudden, the whole place sprung into action. From total silence, it went to total chaos, and there were people and horses and ponies everywhere! Gary stood by the sidelines as his daughter, Hannah, worked one of their geldings on the gig. This was her first go with a full-grown horse, for she’s only raced ponies up until now. Amanda, Hannah’s friend, and her mother were leading horses and ponies, Pat had Princess in tow, Jack had his pony in hand, and there were several people I didn’t know milling around all over the place. Since it’s Saturday, they were preparing to take their horses, and three ponies, to the races. I’m so glad Flossie is such a good girl, for I had to lead her, mount her, ride her, and groom her in and amongst all the action as I cooled her off with a ritualistic stroll down the driveway. She acted as though she does it all the time. I didn’t do anything with Bambi today because Des went to the races with everybody else and I didn’t think I should work Bambi if no one was going to be there in case I needed help. I wasn’t sure I was going to work with her today, anyway, even before I left the house this morning. The plan was to play it by ear. If it had been more favorable I might have done something with her. Just as the trucks and trailers were rumbling down the driveway to the race track, rain clouds moved in. Just like that. The sky had been bright and beautiful one minute, the whole time I was riding, and then, in the blink of an eye, suddenly, it was grey with clouds and no sky in sight. Just grey and dismal. The wind picked up at that time as well, dropping the temperature by enough to feel the difference, and it was under those conditions that I fed carrots to the remaining horses that were left behind. Which weren’t many. I had purchased enough carrots for ten horses, but there were only four horses to feed once everybody left. That means the remaining horses had a feast. When I was lying in the paddock on my back waiting for my ride home, Bambi came up and sniffed my hand before wandering off to graze again and Flossie just looked at me. Bambi had probably been looking for more carrots and as soon as she was convinced that my hands were empty, she wasn’t interested anymore. They’re getting used to having me lying around their paddock again. Two horses were whinnying back and forth for a while. I think one was calling for his friends who had gone to the race track and the other was just responding to his cries. I spent some time with the lonely beast and he settled down quickly enough. |