Not the face of an angel

You may not guess this from the sweet expression on her face, but Lena was NOT on her best behavior today. (Yes, again.) Steve's comment was that the best we could say is that she could have been worse. True, very true. It's kind of like teenagers - she pushes right up to the limit to see how far you'll let her go. With 1,200 pounds, though, it's better to push back, sometimes hard.

Part of her excess energy was was our fault - we didn't ride her enough this week. Part of was that she was in season today, too. But sometimes "challenging" is an understatement.

She didn't take off with Steve or me, but she danced up the trail most of the way to the top of the ridge and conducted herself in a most lewd way much of that time. It was almost embarrassing.

Katie D. and Bee came out with us, and Bee had a great time! He seemed really happy to be out and so did Katie. Katie is enjoying getting to ride her old friend Bee while she is in the process of finding her next show horse.



The way down was better, until Doc got in front and she decided she had to race him back to the trailer. Then we had to spin some circles and back up, then - even worse - stand still with me on her back while Bee and Doc got tied up and Katie and Steve got off.

Challenging indeed.

...

And just like that, something happens that reminds me how much I love having Lena in my life.

Peter called at about 5:30, just as the steak came off the grill. He said she was colicky, laying on the ground. We covered the meat and called the vet and by the time we got there she was up and looking for dinner.

She didn't get dinner, but as of 8:30, we haven't heard from Peter to say she's having any more problems.

Dr. Leslie said it could have been related to her cycle - hard for a mare to tell what in her abdomen is giving her problems, I guess.

I'm trying not to worry and trying to believe that if something goes wrong, we will hear about it.

Not easy, any of it.

So, ornery as she is, I love Lena tremendously and can't quite imagine what life would be like without her.

Maybe that's the lesson of the day.