quietann

So I did get to ride Minnie today.

She's *much* happier now that she has her #1 guy Trumpie living with her again. Of course this caused a little bit of silliness when we took them into their stalls to tack up; because of Minnie's heavy feeding schedule, they have separate paddocks outside their stalls so Trump can't steal her food, and Minnie at least considered pitching a fit when

goddessfarmer led Trump away to get him into his paddock and stall. So, she still has separation anxiety.

Getting on her was... tricky.

goddessfarmer had to lead her up to the "mounting block" (a picnic table) a couple of times, and Minnie was being very bad... would not stand still, fussed, carried on, and it just continued once I was on her, at least until

goddessfarmer brought Trumpie out of the stable and got on him. I have to say that I am *much* better at dealing with silly mare behavior than I was when I first rode Minnie almost a year ago.

We had a nice hack through the woods, all walking except when Minnie trotted to catch up to Trump, and accompanied by Pedro, the Very Large Black Dog. Minnie was fine although she got tired towards the end and was stumbling a bit. I think she gets so focused on staying with Trump that she pays no attention to where she is putting her feet. Trump is a *saint* for allowing Minnie to follow him with her nose up his butt. He doesn't pin his ears or kick or anything; she's just there, and that's OK with him.

Minnie sweated up a bit, though it was probably more nerves than anything else. And I was, yes, a little sore from riding in "terrain" as opposed to a nice flat arena. Lunch afterwards with

goddessfarmer was very fun. I left her to her huge "to do" list by 2 p.m., and came home.