Horse & Hound

I have not been in the stable for a long time, first because I started working full time, then because of the move, and the last few months cannot be blamed on anything else but me being way too comfortable in my new home.

Before the weekend I stumbled upon Anat in the supermarket, a woman who also comes and rides regularly, and speaking to her was nudge enough for me to decide that I would meet up with her today. I left Barak at home and brought Pita.

I unleashed her when we arrived, but I was not prepared for just how debonairly she would roam the place. When I started to bring the Shepherds I needed to nanny them in the beginning, Barak since the place is full of cats, but also Goshen since she was not used to horses. When I rode I often had trouble keeping the dogs from herding me and my horse.

Pita on the other hand, immediately made friends with the stable dog Whisky, an old Vizsla male and she confidently went up and smelled the horses when they were taken out of their stalls, although she intuitively restrained herself from entering both the stalls and the arena. All the horses are more or less bomb proof, so I am not particularly worried that she will get kicked. I saw a few occasions were she was sniffing around between their legs and when the horse just lifted the leg, Pita moved away, and I think that this were lessons enough to teach her that these creatures can actually move.

When I rode, she stayed in the stable chatting around with the people that were hanging there. The stable is with no walls and the stable alley is clearly visible from the arena, so I could always keep an eye on her, but there really was no need.

She loved rolling around in the manure, smelling, tasting, just like any dog. After we finished with the horses we went down to the fruit groves to pick some blackberries and mulberries, and as if she was not dirty already she found some really swampy areas, due to the irrigation, and after playing around there, the whole dog was muddy and needed one shower before she could even enter a car, and then one more shower to really clean her when we came home. Five minutes later she had passed out of exhaustion.

ָA Muddy and happy Pita
(Before the mud down in the grove)

I rode Noor, and I had heard that she had changed a lot and become lazy, so I did not have any high expectations on her rideability, but she surprised me. No doubt, she was a bit more stiff in certain areas than when I rode her daily, but she gave her face and she moved away nicely for the legs, and she stopped from all gaits, just as if I would have worked her yesterday. Had she had sliders, I am willing to bet that she would have slid!

All in all it was a very inspiring day and I will surely go back to my previous routine of going there at least a few times a week when I am not working. Surely it will be good both for my own well-being, but also for Pita's socialization and environmental training - and of course for poor Noor who probably was just bored to death from carrying kids around.