goddessfarmer rules!

She's baling hay today (literally), a *very* labor-intensive project, and she's short-handed, but nonetheless she took the time to help me and Minnie get up to the indoor ring, and brought us back later. Yes, the field where J was tedding the hay is just down the hill, but she did *not* have to accommodate me.

So... for the first time in I don't know how long, I actually rode *by myself* today. The barn manager was around, but busy for the most part. Minnie was *really* good. We worked for 40 minutes and stayed mostly at the walk on account of the heat, but got in a few short trots and a canter in each direction. She was very "snatchy" of the bit when she got tired and I probably let her walk too much with her head and neck stretched down. But, she had her ears pricked and her hocks under her and was a happy horse being ridden. Afterwards, I hosed her down and turned her out to graze for a bit, and cleaned tack and talked with someone who has her horses at the barn for the summer (and is very impressed with the standard of care at the barn, BTW!)

And I now know just how silly Minnie gets when she's taken away from Trumpie. She banged around in the trailer and whinnied most of the way to the barn, and then did the same when we took her away from her barn pals. She managed to work herself into quite a sweat before I ever got on her, just from separation anxiety. And the whole time we were riding, she kept up a "call and response" of whinnying with other horses in the barn.

We took Minnie back home and I did a few chores for J because she was so busy, and then I came home.