Laura 2, Appy-tude 1 (for those of you keeping score at home)

I went out to the barn for another ride last night. The weather was a bit iffy, but I knew I needed to just go and get out there.  I don't want to use "a chance of rain" as an excuse to not go out. The weather can be drastically different 30 minutes in any direction around here...so it is worth trying.

I actually managed to get a few pictures for you guys - just to show you a bit of the area where we ride.

Looking back towards the barn.  There is a round pen to our left

The farm is 100 acres and the barn in plopped right in the middle.  We are heading toward the front of the property here and the grass and other plants are very tall.  This section is also home to several deer.  The skies were starting to get very dark.  It had been raining on and off all day, so I was expecting to get a bit wet.

Sure enough, it started to rain pretty hard. That's when the appy-tude hit!  Apparently, once it started to rain, Rusty thought we should head back to the barn!  I gently reminded him otherwise and we kept going.  After a few minutes, it really started to pour, so I decided to head back, hoping that maybe it would let up a bit.  Sure enough, by the time we got back to the barn, it had almost stopped raining. I made an executive decision and decided to head back out.

This time, we went down the laneway and back.  Rusty was not amused.  I was willing to forgive one bit of attitude, but now he was starting to annoy me. So I decided we would ride past the barn several times, until he decided to relax and then we could go home.  He finally relaxed after another 20 minutes and we headed in.

Hey! There's the barn!  Let's go back!

I learned a few things on my ride tonight:

1. Contrary to popular belief, Appaloosas DO NOT melt in the rain;
2. I can be more stubborn than Rusty;
3. Riding in a light summer rain isn't that bad after all...

Rusty's "appy-tude" problems aren't that serious, they are just a bit annoying.  He just tries to turn for home by stopping and doing a slow turn on the haunches. There is no jigging, head-tossing or any dangerous behaviour (luckily!).  

I have two days off work and I'll be able to ride during the day (today is Canada Day!) so I think a couple of sessions with lots of trotting and cantering is in store for Monsieur Rusty.  Some good, old-fashioned exercise should help him out a bit!

Happy trails everyone!