Irisado "Two Spooks" Champagne

The woods are lovely this time of year. By now most of the oranges and reds have gone, but the yellows remain, and everywhere the leaves are drifting down in a pale silent rain. The vistas under the trees have opened up, and you can see much deeper into the forest.

Champagne and I enjoyed being out Sunday. Well, I enjoyed it. He’s willing to go along, and even responds to some of my daft ideas, like trotting up the pipeline hill (though he’s pretty puffed by the time we reach the top). I ask him to trot for two reasons: one, to build up his wind, and two, because if we walk up, he keeps stopping and insisting he can’t possibly make it.

At one point there is a decision on the path: turn left, and we head to the barn, but turn right and we explore some other areas of the woods. Champagne doesn’t want the right option, but he does go there if I really insist.

We often come across people out walking their dogs. Champagne is pretty calm about dogs, even if the dog is loose and comes yapping up. I guess living with four really active ones in his last barn immunized him against dog-terror. Sunday we also ran into a family with a girl about six or seven. She wanted to know if Champagne was the Black Stallion (her favorite movie). He’s in his winter coat, so he does look that dark. I carry carrot stubs with me, and when we come across kids who are interested I let them feed him a carrot. Magic!

So we had a very fine time, just the two of us, and when I had enough I let him make the choices and we got back home faster than you’d think. But he was acting skittery as we came up near the open shed so I grabbed the grab strap because he spooked there at the woodpile this summer and I came off. Yesterday he spooked at just the same spot. This time I was ready. Then we moved forward ten or twenty feet, and he spooked again! More grab strap. Crazy beast. After that he was fine.