Zelda and I often disagree on how long our rides should last. She has an inner time clock and when she decides she’s had enough, she’s had enough. Imagine a 1500 pound paperweight. A grumpy one. Or a mechanical horse — you now the kind? Like the ones outside the grocery store where you put in a quarter? When her time is up, she runs out of steam. She plants her feet and when asked to move forward, she expresses her dissatisfaction with being asked to take even one step more, by kicking out or bucking.

I try to avoid getting in a flat out fight with her, but to convince her to move forward requires some strategy and tact. Two things that work are 1) asking her to spin in a small circle until she decides that going forward is less work, and 2) backing up down the trail in the direction that I want to go. Oh yes, and then there’s 3) spurs. They help, too.

Of course, I could also just put in another quarter.