Winterspring

I realize I haven't been blogging much lately, mostly because I've been working evenings and that's when I prefer to blog. I've still had some time to play with Royal, although the weather is going crazier than usual. We had a brief reprieve with above-freezing temperatures... and it snowed yesterday.

Seriously? Will this winter EVER be over? I'm tired of suiting up with long johns, wool socks, and tons of upper layers just to be outside for more than a few minutes. Don't get me wrong, everything's been melting nicely and steadily, but slowly. There's lots of puddles everywhere, but quite a few still have ice at the bottom, so no wading. We did have some puddles in the road that were ice free that were wade-able, until Royal hears a loud noise, forgets he's in a puddle, suddenly remembers that he's wading in a puddle, and freezes until he remembers that his hooves still work underwater.

"Don't really know where to go from here."

Although he still tried to climb through the big snow banks while we still had them.

Mostly we've been hand walking, which ended up being a good idea when the ice started cracking. Royal is big on context. A person moving a barrel or a tarp is no big deal, but if they move by themselves, obviously a big horse-eating monster is the culprit. Obviously. So he proceeds to lose his mind and forget that he and I are on the same planet. The best way to get him back to Earth varies with the situation, but after a couple sessions, the best plan ended up encouraging him to circle at the fastest possible trot on the road away from the ice, and Squeeze Game close to the ice. Circling let him use up his adrenaline, and Squeeze kept him from getting too emotional near the ice..

We did get a ride in, and he powered away from home, until we got to the end of the property line, where he spooked at an empty soda bottle and wanted to go home. I kept his brain occupied with Partial Disengagement and back-ups. I think he's got as much spring fever as I do. And the never-ending winter is definitely not helping, even though he looks all handsome when he's windblown.

Supposedly it's going to warm up after this weekend, and we can hopefully continue our excursions, including going to the park down the road. But first spring needs to get here and stick around until summer arrives.