Things that go baa in the day

Had a good ride on Lance today, in spite of – or perhaps due to! – a couple of major spooks. He still doesn't know what to think of my sheep, and apparently the rams (in the lot closest to the arena) did something really scary today – several times. The first two times he spun and bolted to the opposite end of the arena; the third time he just flinched hard. I think he actually humped up a bit at the end of the bolting, but he's so smooth (and lazy) that it was a non-issue. There's nothing like successfully riding out a new horse's reaction to fear to cement your confidence level. :-)

When I was done riding I decided to try for some good portraits with a nice green background, and lead him into the pasture. I didn't have much luck. He checked out the overturned stock tank, but really didn't see anything else that riveted his attention. At least I got a decent shot of his lovely mane (which I can't see myself pulling or trimming anytime soon!).

Then I lead him up to our gate to retrieve a box that had been delivered earlier. This gave him another chance to get a good look at the sheep, and I tried again:

This is about as wide-eyed as he gets. I think he's going to be pretty unflappable with time!