Doesn't she look lovely? I unraveled the three unintentional dreadlocks from her mane (who knows, maybe she wanted them there). The white in her mane blends into the bay that fades into red. I think it's delightful.
I've never been comfortable with liberty in the big arena. Anytime I have tried, Avalon galloped around in crazy circles, completely ignoring me. Aa horsewoman at the ranch recommended trying it again. At first, Ava stuck to her usual behavior - either grazing or galloping around bucking and tossing her head (to express how much she would rather be grazing). But a few minutes (and one sweaty horse) later, she was circling me at liberty. She strongly preferred the side of the arena with the gate and grass, but I could get her to follow me to the halfway point of the arena before she turned tail and galloped back to the grass.
The next time, I tried to keep the galloping to a minimum. It was too snowy, slippery, and cold for shenanigans. She did take off a few times (without any slipping, very impressive).
With slow and gentle but insistent coaxing, Avalon followed me all the way to the far side of the arena. We spent some time just hanging out and grazing in the "spooky" area.
Then we trotted together back to the gate. The best part was that she trotted behind or beside me. As I ran back, I stopped several times to see what she would do. Even though we were trotting toward the gate, away from the spooky places, she stopped when I stopped.
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| A blurry picture in my rearview mirror of Avalon watching me drive away. |
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