Chickens & turkeys & ducks--Oh My! And Harley has a birthday

The wind finally let up by mid-Sunday, enough for me to want to ride. Saturday's brutal blasting winds kept me out of the saddle and the horses blanketed. This time, last year, the snow was gone (what little we had) and we were riding in flannel shirts, not jackets! We took Harley and Rolex for a trip up the power line where drifting snow still measured about a foot in places. Coming down off Big Bump, we had to cross a small brook. Rolex wasn't too keen to cross the water and peered at it as if to say, "What do I do now?"   Harley , the birthday boy, took the lead and was happy to walk out front for a good portion of the ride.

He got "stuck" a time or two, as did Rolex, where they switched leaders and supported each others fears. Your turn to go out front--oh no, I insist. They are quite a pair out there.

Harley bravely forded the brook at Orris Falls, with a stop mid-stream to sniff, but didn't drink. Then we headed up and over Spring Hill. No one seemed to have snowshoed or skied beyond the Orris Falls point. Maybe busting trail through deep wet snow forced everyone to quit. Our brave steeds made it all the way out to Emery's Bridge Rd. where we decided to give them a break and ride home via the roads.  

This is when things really started to get interesting. Harley has always been braver in the woods than on the roads. That's where he sees all sorts of scary things--sailboats under tarps, greenhouses (with pumps running!), ducks (even Rolex gave them a careful eye), chickens sitting under dryer vents, a pen of fowl, and a pair of broad-winged hawks flying perilously close overhead, calling "Keer, keer, keer".
It all was enough to make the birthday boy become Mr. Prancypants.

Harley could definitely do better on the roads, but I'd really like drivers to use more caution and sense. As he jumped sideways at the chickens, a lady approaching slowed down, a little, but his jump made her realize that she needed to REALLY slow down. I waved my arm at a few people, signalling this, yet they totally blew me off and didn't let up on the gas at all. What is wrong with these drivers?

A view from the rear, and Rolex's ear tips

For Monday's ride, we swapped horses. John rode gnarley Harley and I took Rolex Girl. We headed up the road and into the woods. Once again, we made this a trail/road ride due to the workout of going through the deep snow. Both plunged through a number of deep drifts in places, so walking down the road via North Point, gave them a nice breather and cool down for the amble home.

It was even warm enough today to give them both a bit of a warm-water sponging to get rid of the sweat. Harley only had one attempted turn back, but John got him back on track. "Oh spinner man, where you gonna run to?" was my song of choice for him today. Rolex felt sparky and wanted to pass Harley on the home stretch, but like a little kid, she gets sidetracked. She wanted to stop and check out the goats, while Harley would rather run past them, with his eyes closed! It will be nice when the trails are clear again.