Right now, I am thinking that being positive can be a front and a form of denial. A situation now exists, and I must do something about it. Tonight, I decided to get Tinni out. I put his bareback pad on him, and off we went, him moving very slowly, at it seemed an excruciating pace. I figure well, his age is catching up with him. It even occurred to me that I should get off and walk.

Well, we come down Siggi’s Loop and are on jawbone junction when Tinni alerts, by putting his ears forward and his head high in the air. Then I see it, Camo Man, holding his bow. He’s just looking at me. I said to him that Tinni doesn’t like weapons, and right at that moment, Tinni does a 180 degree turn and bolts. It was no Tinsy shuffle. It was 0 to 30 mph in 5 seconds. His head remained high, and he took the bit in his teeth.

Young Trillium riding younger Tinni

He did Raudi’s runway in record time, way faster than Raudi ever did it. It was a miracle that I stayed put. He stopped at the Murphy Road trailhead. I, badly shaken, got off and walked back with Tinni to Jawbone, hoping to talk to the hunter. I explained that these were the only trails I had, but the hunter retorted by saying they were the only trails he had. I was starting to tell him that he could cover more ground on foot than I can on horseback, but Tinni then took off again. I followed him back to the trailhead.

There were now 4 or 5 vehicles with trailers in the pull off area, and bow hunters getting ready to go out. This was at 10 p.m.

What to do? I am grateful to be living here. We have created a little Shangri la here, this after many, many years of hard work. However, I can’t live where I can’t ride safely. I will winter over here, then in the spring of next year, border crossing permitted, head to the Lower 48 and do a lengthy horse trek. Maybe a new place to live will materialize.

There is just one thing holding me back and that’s my concerns about Tinni. No one would take as good of care of him as me – so to leave him in the hands of someone else would be a form of betrayal. And as I realized tonight (the good thing) is that he is still very strong and in excellent shape.

Next: 221. 8/11/21: A letter to a Neighbor