A Lily perspective

I never know what they're gonna do with me anymore.

Ever since I came home from second grade at the Spokane Equestrian Center, they've been making me do all kinds of new stuff.

Sometimes Laurie comes over in the afternoons, saddles me up, longes me in the round pen and then rides me in the barnyard.

Marianne always cranks up the Country-Western music cuz she likes to watch me trot to the beat.

I can do that better this year cuz Monte made me a believer that if you move you don't get poked or kicked so much.

He used spurs on me, and I learned right off to get a move on or he'd poke me again.

Laurie uses spurs on me too, but I've been really good and she hardly even needs to touch me anymore. I know what she wants me to do. I just didn't quite understand before.

Sometimes Marianne loads me up and takes me over to Laurie's where I have to work in the indoor arena with other horses while Barbara teaches riding lessons.

I thought that's what we were going to do last night, but after we traveled too far in the trailer and started going over a bumpy road, I could sense that something was different.

When I got out of the trailer in this big field and there was no Laurie, I knew I was in for a new adventure---my very first trail ride and all by myself, no less.

Marianne saddled me up, and Bill set up the mounting block while the dogs hid behind the pickup.

We took off across the field and then went down into an area with tall grass, lots of little ponds and a scary, shiny steel structure. I didn't want to go past it, but Marianne gently urged me on, and I found out it wasn't going to bite me.

There were birds singing and flying all over the place; after all, it's a fish and game preserve. I heard that it used to belong to the Ginter family who live up Rapid Lightning Road. That was sure nice of them to put their land in a preserve where everyone could enjoy it.

After we came back from the tall grass and started crossing the open field, I almost stepped on a big turtle. That turtle must have read Gulliver's Travels cuz it just sat there and looked back up at me.

We moved on and I walked up an old logging road where mosquitoes were flying all over the place and landing on me and biting me. I didn't like that, but I kept on moving.

Marianne was really happy with me when I walked along the sandy hillside to get around the big iron gate. She hugged me when I finally had the nerve to cross that little babbling brook. It took me a while to get up the nerve, but once I did, it wasn't so bad.

That water felt good on my feet, and I liked crossing it a second time.

It turned out to be a fun experience, and I wouldn't mind going there again.

I don't know what's in store for me today, but I can tell you that these riding adventures are turning out to be not so bad---especially cuz of all those treats they give me at the end when I've been a good horse.