Neighborhood Walkabout

This little mare just continues to impress. 

Quest and I went out for our first walk ever around the neighborhood and she was fantastic. Cars went by approached from behind and in front, all non-events. For the most part, drivers slowed down for us and I waved an appreciative thank you. One lady stood on her front steps and waved hello as we went by, commenting how pretty Quest looked. I smiled and said thank you but was grinning on the inside since my very mud-coated pony was definitely not very pretty. 

Unless there is a sidewalk, pedestrians in NJ should walk facing oncoming traffic. In this case, it would put a horse being lead normally closer to traffic. Not ideal. So the past couple of weeks have included groundwork sessions working on off-side leading; Quest was a bit confused at first but figured it out quickly and was just fine on the streets. Good mare.

We would have walked further but decided to turn around when we encountered a mother walking a golden retriever with her kid on a tricycle approaching on the other side of the street. Quest is usually fine with dogs so I wasn't hugely concerned but the dog got very agitated and was giving the woman a hard time. I could tell she was getting flustered and I didn't want to make it worse.

"She's in training too, we'll turn around." I called out to her. Discretion was the better part of valor.

Dusk was starting to fall so we ran a little on the trail home- it was good practice for when we get down to REAL running business. I used that time to test brakes and back ups as we walked the last bit of distance home. When we got to the yard, M and her friend were in the barn tacking up Caly. M asked if I was going to ride. I hadn't quite thought about what I wanted to do for the next 30-45 minutes but "...Sure!" Groomed and tacked in record time and we got in a great arena ride to finish the night. 

Anyone recall October's meltdown? What a huge difference compared to things now...I can't believe how far we've come in that time. I can take her out for a walk on the trail and the streets, come home AND tack up for a nice ride in the arena- all in the same night with time to spare. What an awesome mare.