Breathing deeply

Yesterday started off like all the days lately: cold foggy drizzle. This spell of weather has really weighed on me, like a scuba weight belt dragging down all my buoyancy. But by afternoon the sky was blue and the sun was out (What is that bright thing up there?) and there was a fresh, cool breeze blowing.

I had a very nice ride. Champagne is finally completely shed out and sleek and shiny. His lip sarcoid seems to have been completely defeated by the chemotherapy cream, and you can’t even see where it was any more. He seems to be accustomed to his new hoof trim, and willing to walk, trot and canter with a bit of energy. Well, if I insist.

He is bird-proof. Sparrows, starlings, barn swallows swooping around, not even a consideration. I think living with chickens helped him in that regard. He is also pretty dog-proof. Yesterday someone’s very energetic German Shepherd puppy came barreling up to him, and no spook. I guess in earlier days he actually charged the dogs at his former barn, but having lived with the four of them for years, he disregards dogs now.

Yesterday I had Champagne stopped by the mirror in the outdoor so I could tend to the vine. It is all in flower, with orange tubular blossoms that shade to yellow at their throat. It is an enthusiastic climber, and I was reaching up to bend some of the tendrils back because they are encroaching on the track at head level when I startled a hummingbird which had come to sample the nectar. That startled me, but not Champagne. Maybe he is just in a phlegmatic mood.

Anyway, the glory of the sun, the cool fresh breeze, the rain water spangling everything, and my good boy all pretty and shiny reminded me how lifting riding can be.