Mustang Saga

I had an absolutely wonderful ride with Tonka tonight.  It was just at home and fairly short because I was mainly just trying to find out what my body was doing after my chiropractor visit yesterday.  Turns out I need to go back :( but it was still a wonderful ride.

We just toodled around, and a lot of the time I let Tonka decide where to go.  Of course he was very food motivated.  The thistles are blooming and he tenderly and carefully ate a lot of their heads.  Then we went to the apple trees to see how they're doing and he picked himself one, and I picked him a better one from a tree that is closer to ripening.  It was fun to just wander around with no agenda.

It got me to thinking about Trust, and how a lot of people say you can never trust a horse.  Well, I can say that I know Tonka well enough to trust him to be who he is, and to be honest.  Can I trust him to protect me, to take care of me, not to kill me?  No, that's not who he is.  I can trust him to be goofy and make me smile and to generously give me moments of great happiness and togetherness.  I can also trust him to eye every new object or out of place shovel with distrust, and occasionally to jump out from under me.  I can trust him to tell me when he's frustrated or cranky, or when he's happy and relaxed.  I can trust him to stand there looking extraordinarily handsome when I tie him outside the house while I run in to get something. I sure do love that horse.

He's got a swollen, irritated eye tonight.  It's not bad - if you didn't know him you probably wouldn't notice.  But I put some ointment in it anyway and I'm hoping he'll be fine tomorrow.