Weekend excitement, part I

Well, well, well; my "solid citizen" revealed another side this weekend! All's well that ends well, but both rides served as good reminders that one must always be awake, aware and ready to deal with whatever comes.

On Saturday afternoon I stayed home when my husband took our son to youth group. I hadn't been able to ride Lance on Friday, so I strapped on his Renegade front boots and headed down the lane. I don't do arena work on Saturday (since the Sabbath is supposed to be a rest day for man and beast), but it was a beautiful day for a walkabout on the hill.

Mt. Hood on the horizon with its peak in the clouds

I headed down through the vineyards pictured. Lance was alert and had his llama-neck on, stopping occasionally to get a good look/listen before proceeding. About halfway through the vineyard, he stopped longer than usual and stared intently at a vineyard laborer's vehicle parked downhill from us. I decided to turn him in a small circle to get his focus back on me, but as soon as I got his head turned he spun the rest of the way and bolted back up the hill! The footing wasn't great and there was no room to execute a one-rein stop, but fortunately he didn't go far before I was able to slow him down and get him turned around again. Still not wanting to proceed he thought about bucking, but just hopped a bit. About that time the laborers returned to their vehicle which seemed to help Lance realize that it was safe to approach. The rest of the ride was less eventful, although it took quite awhile before Lance actually relaxed. All that tension, plus climbing the hill to get home, had him practically dragging his nose by the time we got to our lane again!

Pretty sweaty for just walking