Winter Walkabout

Ye olde hitching post.

Jaz and former Mom Nita.

Check out my Wildman Rockstar's frizzy do.

Me n' Pokes.

Home safely.

It was a crisp, sunny Sunday, perfect for worshiping at the Heavenly Church of the Divine Walkabout. With temps in the upper 50s and not much wind to speak of, I could have done without the long underwear top under my long-sleeved T-shirt and fleece vest. It was gorgeous.

Jaz, of course, is always a good boy, and did not disappoint his other mother.

Poco started off the day by being snotty. I drove him away from Jaz and me because he kept wanting Jaz's pile of hay, regardless of which of the three piles Jaz tried to eat. He calmed down and was pretty mellow on the ride. We came across a couple areas in the shallow drainage ditches where there was lush grass from the last rain, and both horses were reluctant to stop eating and walk on, especially chow hound Pokey. We aren't heartless, and did let them graze several times. Lord knows there's nothing but nubs on our land, so this was a big treat for them.

I had two slightly hairy situations. We were on the way back, walking along the easement, and this particular section was deep, dry, warm sand. I knew it would feel nice on his feet, so we walked through it. Damned if I didn't feel him start to drop to roll. I caught him before he dropped and pulled his head up. I don't believe he was being intentionally naughty or was trying to ditch me. We were being kind of quiet and I'm sure that warm sand was calling his name. I think he just kinda spaced for a second that I was there. As soon as I pulled his head and told him 'no,' he was fine and kept walking. Can't take a nap on that one.

Second adrenaline rush came as we walked by the fence with the goofy Labs. We were already past it I heard the dogs heading towards us. Poco heard them, then caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye. I was just about to turn him around so he could get a good look at them when Jaz spooked behind us, which caused Poco to spook hard. I kept his head cranked around to slow his momentum (cuz he wanted outta there) and we'd no sooner handled that when he spooked again. I managed to stay on and and he calmed down in a matter of seconds. Once I got him to calm down, turn and look at the dogs, he was fine and we were on our way home without further incident.

This was only my second ride in my new saddle and I have work to do — holes to punch in billets and I want to try bringing my stirrups up a little. I was having a hard time keeping my feet in the stirrups today, for some reason. Hell, I had a hard time mounting without a block today. I've started back on a decent diet and am already feeling better and stronger, but I have a long way to go to get back into the kind of shape I like to be in.