It was unseasonably warm here in Colorado today. I took Orion to play with my trainer’s rat terrier Cheney while I rode Lily in a lesson. I had planned to ride yesterday, but after longing Lily for a while, I didn’t see a horse I wanted to ride. (In middle-age, I’ve become a lot more conservative about when I get on a horse. Of course, the first four or five years I had Hap, I would have rarely ridden if I’d waited for him to calm down.) Today, although it was no warmer and even a little more windy, Lily was much calmer on the longe line, and almost perfect under saddle. She seems remember all the stuff we were working on last fall, although she is not quite as strong.
Afterward, my trainer and I took Cheney and Orion for a short walk. Cheney, who D got from the shelter at around 18 months of age, has issues and has apparently hated being taken for walks off her property with other dogs. D was hoping that Cheney would enjoy a walk if his best-friend-forever Orion was along. I was astonished when it worked. Orion trotted along cheerfully checking out everything he could find, and Cheney followed him almost as happily.