A good day to celebrate my wonderful mare’s birthday. The sun shone brightly and temperatures were in the high thirties. Pete has taken photos of her every year since her fourth birthday – and so we have a basis for comparison of her at various ages. Also a basis of comparison of the immediate landscape. A big snow year this year, more on the ground than in previous years.

And Shadow turned three. So we took photos of the two of them together.

As usual, when Pete took the photo, Raudi would not stand still and had her ears back. So he took many, many photos.

Raudi at 21

Last year Raudi turned 20. The year before that, 19. Somehow, her turning 21 makes me think of her as being old. She looks in good shape, but when I rode her up and down Murphy Road (Pete rode Tyra), she was slow and extremely pacey. I am a little concerned because she also seems to be moving slow in the pen and does not follow the others out when I open the gate in the morning.

I am going to do something about this. I am going to exercise her whenever I get the chance. Tomorrow, I have to go to town, to do artwork with my friend Cathy. But I am going to first take Raudi for a walk. I might also, when I ride her, put boots on her and see if she picks up the pace.

It would not be fair to her to take her on a trek without having gotten her in shape. She’s not overweight, and also not lethargic. Come to think of it, the last time I took her out she did cough quite a bit at the end of the ride.

I was feeling crappy, but the ride was actually invigorating. I mentioned to Pete that it was not the best ride, and he said that, “there’s never a bad ride.” Good man.

For 20 years I have routinely fretted about this horse, and also treated her like a China doll. I have done right by her in that I have used positive reinforcement training. There have been a few times when I have lost my temper and gotten mad, like about a month ago when she barged past me, out of the gate.

She figured me out a long time ago. She just keeps her distance when I am mad at her.

And there’s Shadow, age 3. A dog of routine. In the mornings she hears me saying good morning to Pete, comes up to me, seal walks, then when I put my head under the pillow, goes over and greets Pete. And when I come in after feeding the horses, she bugs me until she gets her treat.

Right now, we have a visitor dog, an old dog named Zellie. Zellie is a very mellow black lab. She just fits right in – and in no way is a problem. I think both Ryder and Shadow know that she’s just a visitor.

Horses and dogs really do understand us, but don’t communicate their feelings the way we do. Of this I am sure.

Next: 104. 4/15/24: Middle of the Month