You would think that after the ride I described yesterday, Freedom would be tired.

He was, when we finished. Unfortunately it was only a temporary condition.

The first ride took place on Saturday. On Sunday, I planned to have a nice leisurely ride with a friend. It was nearly 60 degrees out and I wanted to enjoy the sunshine before leaving for a business trip. I had considered joining some hunt friends for a ride but wasn’t sure how Freedom would react if we trailered to hunt territory and he played off the energy of his hunting buddies. I really needed to make my flight and stay in one piece so I took the safe choice.

Boy am I glad I did!

Freedom was great when I tacked up. He was great for the first 30 minutes. I was laughing about how he was making a liar out of me (I told my friend how he’d been the day before) as we strolled along on a loose rein.

Then, he woke up. Okay, he wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d been the day before but we had a lot of bouncing and spooking. He demonstrated that he can canter in place (he looks a lot like a rocking horse when he does this) and he showed definitively that he was not tired.

After another hour and a half ride he jigged home taking time to spook at a few dogs.

I guess that when it warms up again (it’s now down to the single digits over night and was a balmy 11 degrees here today) I’ll be right back at square one with a horse that needs to be worked.