This evening, I was pulling the manure sled into the horse pen and Hrimmi ran over and leapt over it, front legs up in the air and tucked, rear legs moving equally as nicely. I did not scold her for being bargy; instead, I resumed pulling the sled into the enclosure and latched the gate. She made a beeline for the hayshed, and there grabbed a few bites to eat. Tyra and Raudi chose to eat the hay that had been left on the ground for them.

I did get all the horses out today, on this one of the brightest days of the year, I walked them around the loop. All three were eager to get out. After, they all drank quite a bit of water.

I figured something out when I was walking Hrimmi. Sometimes she will stop and refuse to move. I have taught her to walk sideways, on both sides, like a parade horse. Today, when she stopped in front of the gate, I pointed to her side, and she moved sideways. I immediately asked her to move forward, and she did. So maybe getting her in motion, going sideways, is the more indirect way of getting her to move forward.

But anyways, the leap. She’s in good shape. They’re all in good shape. I think that time off from riding was good on their backs. I wonder if anyone else thinks similarly. I am not at the center of the horse circle these days, so I don’t know for sure if my theory, that horses should be given a rest in the winter, holds any water.

I didn’t ride today because I was concerned about snowmobile traffic. As it was, when I was walking Raudi, a truck with a plow pulled up behind us. Raudi was just looking for something to get excited about. She didn’t get away from me; in fact, she didn’t even try because she does know how to do this. The driver waited, twice, the third time I walked a ways up a driveway and waited for him to go past.

Raudi would never jump a manure sled. She swore off jumping a few years back after we did a summer of it. She saw no sense in this activity, then or after. After, I’d take her out on the trails thinking that she might jump a downed tree limb or branch. She has never, ever made a move to jump anything. Tyra, she jumps with her front feet and then walks over things with her back feet. I do think she has jumping potential. I didn’t think that Hrimmi had it in her to jump anything until today.

I brushed Tyra and Hrimmi. Raudi didn’t need it. Spring is on its way. Pretty soon, the snow will become soft and the snowmobilers will take a bit of a break before swapping out their bilers for All Terrain Vehicles.

Next: 55. 2/26/24: And who do you thank?