Cowboy Michael

Tia was a western cow pony this week.

 She seemed to think this was great fun.  She went for a short trail ride and got to trot and canter around the farm.

Bella also enjoyed "herding" Michael and Tia around, making sure they didn't stray too far away.  She is ever so helpful...not.  Actually Tia chases Bella around when given the chance.  I loosen my reins and let Tia run after Bella and then I laugh so hard that I lose control and almost fall off and then we have what I call a "close call" when I actually fear for Bella's life, so far it's only been close calls and no accidents...so far...

Michael really likes riding.  He picked it up much faster than I did.  He learned to walk trot and canter in weeks.  Granted I was pretty tiny when I first learned but it took me much longer before I was cantering.

Please don't mind Tia's strange haircut.  It's her own fault that she looks that way, and as much as I would like to fix it, we are currently still arguing about the use of clippers within a half mile radius of Tia.  She thought my iPhone was a pair of clippers the other day and snorted and backed away from it...so yeah now people think that she is a rare breed of striped horse.  I'm not even joking about that, several people have asked about it.  I pray every night for her to shed the rest of her coat.

Notice that Addie is far more respectful of the animal that is 1000 times the size of herself.  We still pay pretty close attention to Addie at the barn, she has learned to not walk too closely behind, beside or in front of the large hoofed animals, but sometimes she wanders into a paddock with Surprise the one year old trouble maker pony, and then I screech and make sounds that only dogs can hear...but that's a story for another time.