Katie and Tumbleweed riding off
Yesterday was a Katie Day, as I babysat my grandson and dealt with a painful cracked tooth. The tooth had been bothering me for a few months, but they couldn’t pinpoint the issue at my last appointment. It finally made itself fully known, and hopefully will be resolved at my emergency appointment this morning.
It was raining off and on, but Katie wanted to ride anyway. Needless to say, we had the entire park to ourselves.
I took photos of wildflowers as I waited for them to get back.
Arrowleaf Balsamroot
Biscuitroot
Serviceberry
Tweed, looking tired
She had ridden him down to the river and taken him in, then rode back up a set of hills we had an issue with last year, (he wanted to go up them faster, since they’re steep), but was easily checked. All and all, she said it was his best ride yet. He was fully there for her.
We didn’t have a mare that day, which probably helped. And I’d given him his first, very small, dose of chasteberry that morning, but that shouldn’t have made a difference so quickly. Katie said he definitely wasn’t “dull.” He still looked at scary things, like some graffiti on a building by the river, and a man and dog who popped out of nowhere. He didn’t love the rainy deluge either. She said he looked back at her like, really, we’re going to do this? But trudged on with good energy.
If I’m going to ride between now and our next Katie Day, I will have to Cowgirl up like she did and brave the rain.
But first, I have some tooth business to attend to.
Happy trails!
More and different exposure for Tumbleweed!! Your trainer is a gem. Rain can be unexpected. It is good to expose Tweed to as many conditions/things as possible.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful wildflowers! Some are new to me.
Tooth pain is real. Glad they could get you in so quickly. Apparently there is a shortage of Dental Hygienists here. Appointments are harder to come by. Feel better!
I don’t know if we have the same shortage here. I’m lucky that our dentist and his wife are also some of our best friends. I’m unlucky, too, because they will soon be retiring. He x-rayed and examined it, and It is definitely cracked, but needs a crown, and that can’t be done until the beginning of next week. As long as I don’t chew on it, it seems content to cause me no pain.
DeleteI do feel very lucky to have Katie. She is able to handle some of the things that Tweed threw at me and continue his progression faster. Also, with both of us riding him, he gets way more consistency. I feel like it’s better than sending him away to training because we’re addressing the real issues that would come up when sent home—attachment to the herd and exposure to the trails. I got lucky finding her.