Freedom
Daisy
Hope everyone had a good New Year's Day. :) I was able to spend mine with my Mom's side of the family. It was great seeing cousins that I don't see much any other time of the year.
Thursday I worked for two hours. It was great seeing Cameron and Jackson again. I enjoyed having off for Christmas break and spending time at home with my family some, visiting a friend who is at Mountain View as volunteer staff, and being able to ride during the day but it is always nice to go back to work. Monday, Lord Willing (and if the weather cooperates), I will go back to work for full days.
After I got home from work on Thursday, I changed into riding clothes and headed to the horses. I decided to drive Freedom first. I went a little farther than the last time I had driven him. Instead of turning right out of the driveway like we always have before, I turned left. I wanted to take him over the turnpike since it is something he has to get used to anyway and I figured what better day than today. Everything went well. We trotted to the bridge and right before the bridge I allowed him to walk. He really looked at the bridge and the cars going underneath but walked over it no problem. Halfway across I asked for a trot and he trotted off really nice. We turned into the little road that I work Daisy along sometimes at night and went the length of that and back. Then we headed back toward the barn. We crossed the turnpike once again, no problem. Well just as we finished crossing the bridge, this truck (I kinda glanced behind me and I thought it was just a big dump truck) came up behind us. We were right on the corner and I was kinda hoping the guy waits to pass us till we are in the straight stretch. But no, he starts to pass us. Freedom starts to freak out, and starts pulling toward the middle of the road. He has seen big trucks and has had them pass him when he is with Daisy but never like this. Since the truck turns out to be a big cattle truck with a trailer, he takes some of our side of the road since the corner is so sharp and it turns the right which is the way we were heading. I asked Freedom to stop and he does almost immediately, but not before we had almost collided with the cattle truck (since the truck was so long and on our side of the road, the corner so sharp, and Freedom not being totally alongside of the road like he should have been since he was freaking out). I pretty much just reacted along with lots of yelling WHAO. I stopped Freedom and got him to back up a bit and then we just stood there till the truck passed us. If Freedom would not have responded to me like he did right away, things could have turned out much differently. I am so thankful to God that we arrived back safe and sound and in one piece. Although Freedom is now scared of trucks because right after this happened and we had gone a little ways, a small box truck came our way on the opposite side of the road and Freedom pulled to the side away from the truck. He never has freaked out like that about cars or any other trucks we have encountered. But we arrived back and I unhooked the cart and unharnessed him. :)
After I got back from driving Freedom, I rode Daisy. Since it was so cold I decided to just hop on her bareback and go for a nice ride. I believe the French link snaffle has made such a difference because she behaves so much better with this bit. We rode for about half an hour and we did some cantering. On the way back, Daisy walked like a good girl instead of trying to trot when I didn't ask her to. Overall I felt like my day with the horses was quite profitable.
It snowed as I was finishing things up. I am not sure how much snow we got but I am hoping the roads will be clear enough to go to the horses this evening. Hope you all are having a blessed New Year!
This is my mentality for the new year: Don't Let Circumstances Intimidate You. I read this in my devotions a while back and it made an impression on me! :)
happy new year!
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