After spending the morning washing vehicles and packing up stuff as we prepare to depart our winter Florida "camp", I packed up the horses and brother Jeff and headed out to Riverbend to take him to the new (to us, anyway) trails that Hubby and I had found in and around Riverbend and Cypress Creek. We were saddled in short order, and took much the same route as Hubby and I had taken on Friday, doing one small loop backward for variety. Apollo was being a bit skitzy today for some reason, even though there was no wind, but all went well until we came across a peacock on the trail. For some reason, both horses were sure it was a horse-eating peacock, and we had a dickens of a time getting past it. I spent a few minutes schooling Apollo, and was actually backing him up in the direction of the bird, with my intention being to back him up right past the dang bird, and that was working until a guy on a bike came along and we had to stop to let him pass. By then, the peacock had moved just off the trail, so there was still a lot of snorting and prancing as we went by, but at least we managed it. Silly horses! As brother Jeff said, you would think that horses with as many trail miles on them as these guys wouldn't panic at the sight of a big bird, but there you go! Horses never stop being horses, do they? Anyway, all went well from there, and the rest of the ride was drama free, except once when Apollo tripped at a canter and nearly fell on his head, but he managed to recoup before he got to his knees. Gotta love the old fashioned four-wheel drive! Another beautiful day on the back of my horse, couldn't ask for more!
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