Riding off into the sunset, this is what you do around here when the days are long. It gets me to wondering what I did with my evening hours in November and December. It now seems like a long time ago.

Spring is late in coming here – maybe because it’s been so cold. But I am seeing signs of it. The temperatures are now above freezing, the robins are back, there is the smell of plants and soil in the air. And, oh yeah, the buds on the trees are turning into leaves. The green is not dazzling here like it was down in American, but we are getting intimations that this will soon be forthcoming.

Raudi, Tinni, Hrimmi on BCHA pack trip

It gets to a point in the season where I lose any sense of discipline and give up on inside tasks. But I am sticking to it this year. For example, today Pete went to Anchorage, for Equifest, an event where equine enthusiasts show off their horses and pedal their wares. He and Da LeMay, another BCHA member, manned (two guys, right?) a booth. It looked for a bit as though Pete was going to be going by himself, in which case I would have followed suit, but Dan came through.

And so what did I do here? I first worked on Forks – I decided that the key to getting this thing done is going to be to make sure that I am here, in front of this computer, every single day, for at least an hour. Today I thought some about the fact that I am going to need to find a way of tying Part 1, in its entirety, together. I also need to nail down the order of the chapters. I am going to do this after I finish revising Part 1.

I next spent an hour reading the Rehabilitating the Equine Hoof book. Great stuff, this chapter on the hoof and neurophysiology. I am going to read it a few times and perhaps review the chapter on the nervous system in my anatomy and physiology book.

I next made the connections to the human foot, doing the Franklin exercises with the balls. I am going to purchase one pound weights and put them on the horses’ front hooves, and then on my own (feet). And I am doing some of the same foot exercises with the horses that I am doing myself.

When I was done with the above, I took Raudi for a ride; I first rode her down to Ridge Runner, then on our trails. She was pokey going down road and pokey on the trail, but not pokey coming back in the direction of home. I have my fingers crossed that perhaps she is jerking my chain. For now, I am just going to keep getting her out.

I returned home – the driveway was filled with cars, people here for the BCHA meeting – I cantered Raudi right up the driveway – and she did canter. So yes, there may be some internal reason as to why she’s being such a lollygagger.

After the meeting, I got Tinni and Hrimmi out, with Pete, on our trails. And I did some Playground work this evening with Tyra. No, I do not right now know what is motivating me to keep the show on the road.

Next: 140. 5/20/18: Gimme