Yesterday Brian and I headed for the barn again and pulled out boys from the pasture. Bear was his usual mellow self about being caught and brought indoors. We tied up in the aisle and had just a little bit of drama when he sniffed noses with a precocious filly. She ‘winked’ and squealed and kicked, and he kicked at the wall of her stall in response, so we pulled him away from her and tied him up by a gelding and all was quiet again.
After that Bear stood quietly through tacking and Brian and I headed out in the company of Jean and Schooley. We meandered around for a bit, mostly walking. We headed up the overgrown pathway to the edge of Cathi’s property and then turned back. I dismounted briefly to remove a piece of barbed wire from a hazardous location and while I was off Brian and Bear got a little ways off ahead of us. I got back on Steen and he switched from angel mode to “oh my god I have to catch up” mode, so I don’t know if he’s already super attached to Bear or what, but he pranced along until we caught up to Brian and Bear.
The ride continued quietly from there. Jean and Schooley left us. Brian and I continued on. Brian and Bear had one directional disagreement probably spurred on by the heat and the fact that Bear is quite out of shape and after many days of riding in a row, must be tired. But Brian won without much trouble and we soon finished our ride, sponged down the boys and put them back out on the grass.
So, all in all, things are still going very well. Today and tomorrow will probably be non-barn days, but hopefully Brian and I will head out again on Wednesday.