This morning I got in a very short ride on Raudi and took Shadow and Ryder along. It was peaceful, almost meditative. The horse and dogs had a great time. We just did Siggi’s trail. We got to Jim’s Road, and the place where I get off and walk the horse and dogs home, and the slight drizzle suddenly became a sleet/snow/ rainstorm.

The dogs put their heads low and trudged along. Raudi just took this storm as a matter of course. Maybe she remembered some of our treks, ones in which we had to deal with similar weather. I remembered the time I took Tinni out on Siggi’s trail and we got caught in a very nasty hailstorm. He just endured.

There was a time when Raudi and I failed to connect. I don’t know how else to say this. I think she taught me that the best way to connect with any animal was to use positive reinforcement. She did this by showing me that the use of negative reinforcement produced undesirable results. She’s now very easy to work

Raudi

with, and a joy to ride. She will always be willful, and I would not have it any other way. This is her personality. To rob her of this, say, by forcing her to go around and around in a round pen would break her wonderful spirit.

I did try the alternatives, including turning the enclosure into a square pen. The rationale was that horses like corners. A friend saw this and said isn’t it odd, that we tend to stick to the tried and true?

No round pens, no square pens, the enclosure is for hanging out.

Early this evening I was still at work, sorting the fiction and nonfiction books that Bill brought in this afternoon. I had cleared off one of two tables, the second was being occupied by Alicia and her cleaning crew. This was at 8 p.m. I had been at the Hotel since noon. Two other volunteers worked from 1 to 3 p.m. Robert was there, and as I said, Bill dropped off books.

I was not, by 8 p.m., fatigued physically, but I was fatigued mentally, and therefore I wasn’t up for dealing with any more volunteers. The two that showed up were youngers, and because I’m older, weren’t including me in the conversation. Then a third volunteer came in.

I kept working, sorting the fiction and nonfiction, when one of the volunteers, a woman named Maud, addressed me directly and began telling me how wonderful the project was. I was really blown away by her kind remarks. I do hear what she said often, this time it was the timing. I was tired, and her words were like a wind at my back, pushing me forward.

And so I got to thinking, the world would be a better place if we all focused on the positive, both in working with animals and in interacting with one another. I think my remaining life’s work is to become more practiced at this.

Next: 274. 10/6/23: Another Long Day