Sunset Drive

Sorry haven't been able to scan and upload the article yet. Hang in there, it will be soon!

Saturday was an incredibly windy day here and I even debated not working with Linus. Then I reverted back to thinking it was a great day to take advantage of the wind and use it to show Linus that a windy day does not blow in horse-eating monsters. It turned out to be a great idea and we spent about 4 wonderful hours together.

I brought him into the barn to groom him...a dirty horse getting brushed out in the wind usually ends with dirt and things in my eyes! So, when he wasn't trying to pull my gloves off or take his brushes out of my caddy we did manage to get him cleaned up. I had a really great picture of his head over the gate greeting a weanling heifer but unfortunately I deleted it from my phone before it had finished emailing to the computer so this cancelled the email. Since he has been tall enough to do it, sticking his head over fences and gates has become a new fascination.

It hadn't been that long since I had Linus out but with the wind being as strong as it was I decided to ground drive him first. I am seriously impressed with how he is now responding to the Bitless bridle. My Dad even is too, and he is pretty old school with bits and bridles. So, anyway we set off and went up the longer length of the road because I have been trying to get him more used to that direction with the road being smoother. There is more houses and a bit more traffic but all the better for getting him used to those things! I fully expected him to be a teenager and act out at things. He did try to play with the leaves that blew across our path...which is better than bolting. But, he blew me away by driving through the places he always turns around to face me. It was really great. On the way back he tried a few times to turn around but I pulled the rein down so he couldn't turn and told him in a stern voice to "get around". He soon picked up what it meant and we had no more turn around attempts. I clucked at him if I noticed him starting to think about it and he chose to listen to me rather than do his own thing. He was such a good boy. Back at the farm Dad helped me hitch him to the buggy and we had a very short ride. I recently read an article in a magazine about how to know if your horse was "willing". I got my proof when at a small slope instead of slowing and trudging threw it Linus decidedly threw his weight into pulling and didn't give up. I think I will have a very willing partner when is older and able to handle more. He is showing such promise now.