Mustang Saga

Poor Cimarron. He doesn't quite know what I'm up to when I'm taking pictures. It's not as apparent in this small size, but his eyes are pretty worried.
He looks kinda fat and dumpy when he's just standing there, but you should see him in motion. His gut pulls up and his body is organized and smooth. He's a good mover.

And as you can see here, he wants so badly to be a good boy.

I didn't ride today. Not feeling real great, think I have a minor flu or something. But we did some ground work and he was much less "up" today. He realized that there is a slower speed than trot. He was afraid of my brand new flag (cheap short whip + a square of ripstop nylon from the fabric store + electrical tape = better than Brannaman's). Not sure if it was the color or the crisp new sound of it. So we worked on that some. I really felt better about our work today. It was more relaxed. I don't need him on a hair trigger and I think he's starting to realize that. Probably just out of practice since he's had so much time off.

Other than that, I made two very scary trips down my driveway today. One was on the way home from visiting Cimarron. I slid partway down the steep part of the driveway. Then when I went to leave again I got almost to the top, lost my grip, and slid VERY FAST, backward, halfway down the hill. It was NOT FUN. 4 wheel drive isn't much help when you're not getting any purchase. I'm glad the ruts held the truck on the driveway and I got to dry ground before I hit the telephone pole at the bottom. I did not try going up again.

Then I spent a lot of time spreading livestock salt (it's all I had) on the driveway in the freezing cold wind, trying not to fall down. I hope tomorrow is less terrifying.

Now I'm going to go enjoy that downtime I thought I'd have more of today, and hope I kick this bug by tomorrow morning.