It started raining this afternoon. This morning it was cooler and overcast. But at about 3 p.m. the first smatterings of rain began hitting the horses, the tack, the ground. I have mixed feelings about this – the cool weather is far better for riding. And most definitely, Raudi was far more chipper. But I have to dress for rain, and this is not always easy. And the trails, in a short amount of time (should it continue to rain) will become sodden.

Sarah G. came over mid-morning and we rode our horses up to Grizzly Camp. We went slowly because Spiffy is forging, bruising herself by hitting her left front foot with her right hind foot, and vice-versa. Pete made videos for Sarah before and

Alys about to head out for a ride

after we rode – the problem is not all that evident, though Spiffy did stumble.

The question is, will Spiffy be able to do the CTR? None of us have any idea. Sarah was right in saying that bruises really hurt and it takes a long time to heal when this happens. This reminded me of my thigh injury – now I can rest on my legs, which was something I could not do. The bruise was so deep that it took a few days before the black and blue marks appeared.

We had visitors here when we got back – John and Nancy who live on the other side of town. There was a lot of horse talk over lunch – we watched the videos. Nancy really wants to be riding again, so I am going put her in touch with Heather – maybe they can work something out.

After lunch Sarah and I took Spiffy out to the playground and we did some proprioceptive mat work, having Spiffy spend some time on it. This, I repeatedly told Sarah, is the best thing for her because she then is making new neural pathways. It was quite interesting watching Spiffy put one, two, three, and finally four feet on the mat and test it out. Sarah also did carrot stretches with her horse on the mat, and this worked well.

As soon as Sarah allowed Spiffy to exercise her autonomy, Spiffy began moving of her own volition. Some would say that watching this (yawn) was like watching paint dry. My take was that I could have watched this activity all day. It has to do with the fact that I am a cognitivist and therefore like to see the mind/body awareness relationship in action.

We did this in the rain – I just didn’t notice that it was raining.

Tomorrow, riding at 8:30 a.m. with Sarah, Karole, and Terri. If it rains, I am going to roll over and go right back to sleep. In fact, I think that I am going to call it a very early evening tonight.

Maybe I’ll have Pete give me a garden tour. I have been happily oblivious to the goings on, something I feel bad about this. But I am well aware that the rain is a very good thing for the garden.

Next: 190. 7/9/18: To Nap or Not to Nap, that is the Question