Of Ladies and Lefty

I told Kari when she called yesterday morning that I might be home, maybe not.  She's my former student and longtime great friend who took pictures at my mother's Celebration of Life at Western Pleasure in August.

She had called to see if she could drop the DVD from the event by my house after taking her daughter to the Hickey Pumpkin Patch.

Not knowing for sure when she would come, I saddled up Lefty.  As mentioned previously, he had two weeks of just plain ol' riding over at my friend Roxane's.  Since then, I've had a few minutes here and there to ride him.

Saturday, knowing full well that I really needed to get ready for our upcoming road trip, I succumbed to the beautiful fall weather, figuring packing would get done somehow.   

I caught Lefty, saddled him up and headed down the road. Along the way, I met two ladies out for an afternoon walk----one is my neighbor, the other, the mother of one of my former students.

So, I rode and visited with them while they walked.  They had a couple of dogs.  The road seemed busier than ever with horse trailers, long rattly trailers and all kinds of commotion along the way.  

We even dealt with a traffic jam on the corner of South Center Valley and Selle Roads. 

Lefty never flinched.  In fact, I think he was happy when we met the ladies cuz it was almost as if he'd like to join in the conversation too.  

Lefty is definitely a people horse, always has been, since that very first time he nuzzled me from an enclosure over in Ronan, Mont., at Ravenwood Arabians and basically said, "I'm yours."  

I've loved the little guy with all my heart ever since, and we've gone through a lot together with a perennial and totally exasperating skin irritation.  

Lefty often rubs big patches of his hide raw, which, subsequently leads a whole lot of misery with the resulting heat, moisture and swelling.  Plus, it takes several weeks for his hair grow back.  

I don't know if we'll ever get to the bottom of his problem, but for now, Roxane's suggestion of using Calm Coat seems to be helping.  

After Saturday's ride, I told Bill that Lefty finally seems to be where I want him----a horse I can just go saddle up and ride. 

That became even more evident yesterday when Kari showed up just as I was bridling Lefty.  Young ladies kept getting out of her car, four in all. 

So, most of the afternoon visit was spent loving Lefty.  Even Sage, Kari's daughter, climbed aboard, using just a lead rope and halter for steering after I showed them some rather lazy lunging in the round pen.  Lefty had already done that once.  He saw little need to do it again. 

He also thought it was best to just follow "Mom" around the pen.  That was okay.  Sage still enjoyed her ride, and I kept marveling to myself what a wonderful horse he truly is. After the company left, I enjoyed a short, relaxing ride through the woods and up and down the road.  

He's as patient and low key as the day is long.  Most of the impish or resistant games of youthfulness of this 6-year-old gelding are gone.  Plus, he's a pretty horse. 

I think the little guy will be bomb proof for an old lady or anyone else next year, which means he has finally reached that stage in a horse's life where he's worth his weight in gold. 

Since Lily's pretty much there too, I feel thrilled to have two well-behaved and pretty saddle horses.  Well, Lily's not ALWAYS well-behaved, but she's just Lily. 

Thanks to Jane, Lefty's breeder; Monty, his first trainer; my sister Laurie for the times she's gotten on and ridden him out of his little snits and to Roxane who gave him some much-needed experience in the woods, around animals, noisy equipment and such.

I'm very appreciative and love Lefty more than ever.