WOW! One of the nicest days of the whole winter I think! When I rode there was almost no wind at all and it was about -5C. It was late afternoon by the time I was able to get out so we shared the road with school buses but it went without a hitch!
If you follow from the road below straight on, it is a dead end but leads to the trails I have been riding on this winter. Today though, the owner of the land (a good family friend) was cutting wood down there so we decided to leave him be and we followed where you see the curve in the road.
We met several school buses along this part of the road but all were very good to slow down for us and Linus remembered every time to bend to my knee and he would get a treat for standing nice and still. Good boy Linus.
We took another sideroad which goes past a sheep farm and then onto a field with some Arabs in it. Linus likes coming down here to see if they are out near the road. Sometimes they are not visible and this really makes him look hard for them!
The horse below was very cute...and I am not a fan of that word for describing horses but this guy really earned it!! He was adorable!
I usually let Linus have a rest and check out the other horses. It's a good chance to admire him all puffed up and trying to impress...
On the way back I was able to get a picture of one of the Maremma dogs who guard the sheep. There are 3 of them at this farm and they have a big bark! But, Linus is very used to dogs and seems to really like the big ones best (he grew up on our farm with 2 giant breed dogs) However, these dogs are not bred to be friendly and it really angers them that Linus wants to go meet them rather than runs away from them!! I am just glad to be on a nice, safe horse who calmly walks by all their growling and barking!
Late afternoon was perfect timing for some long shadow pictures...
The woman who drives this bus was just getting home. She parks on the roads to knock the crud off her mud flaps and sweep off her lights etc. I took advantage of this opportunity for Linus to check the bus out up close. We have been meeting them more and more recently so why not go for a close up! The big goof was going to stick his head right in the drivers side window!! I pulled him away though, I do not need to pay for new windows or mirrors on a school bus!!
I was very happy that he wanted to check it out rather than wanting to rush past it.
Around the next bend was a car that had just recently taken the sharp curve too fast and was in the ditch. We kicked it up a notch since it was nose down and still idling but the driver was ok and at the nearby house using the phone. I was very proud of Linus for not hesitating at all to approach the vehicle. He was curious more than anything which was super nice to know, if someone were stuck inside or injured it was good to know I can trust Linus to approach and allow me to help rather than become emotional and hard to handle. I got off and checked, but as I said, the driver was out and ok. He was so good about it all. A couple of vehicles came along and I was able to mount back up and carry on without a hitch! LOVE this guy so much!!
We took a selfie after I took his saddle off! Nobody will miss me with that bright helmet cover eh? Haha, I ordered one for my son and it was supposed to be just plain dark blue. It came in bright blue and sparkly - he wasn't thrilled!! I traded him my plain black one. This one fits my helmet better than the other one did anyway. I am not a bright, sparkly person but I guess it is good for visibility!
Love how the late afternoon sun brightens his red coat.
We got back just in time to catch a very pretty sunset.
&
Donna & Linus
Lunenburg, ON
Donna- this sounds like a great ride! I love the shadow pictures. You must be very pleased with Linus and his ability to deal with so many different encounters on the ride. I think the car in the ditch would have caused my guys to look sideways. Jockomo would have also wanted to closely inspect the school bus and try to taste it. Thanks for the fun posts.
ReplyDelete