It was cold, 21 degrees, but not windy this morning. Magic and I rode in the Oak pasture, up on Shirey and in the arena. He was well behaved but the frost put a keen edge on his attitude. Magic does test the situation occasionally. His rebellion is most often balking. I just wait and give him some time. With his good nature, his decision has always been to go ahead. He does it less now than at first so it is not a problem. It is just part of the process of becoming a good horse. We had not been up on Shirey for some time. The deer hunters have a huge very tall “blind” out in the middle of the field. It does not bother Magic but he did give it the eye. The oats we planted for the deer are thick and tall. I let Magic graze a bit. Riding around the perimeter, I spotted a shed. (A shed is an antler voluntarily relinquished by a male deer. They shed antlers every year.) Then we went down to the arena to do some exercises. There I spotted another shed. This one was a spike, more difficult to find because it is considerably smaller. I left the shed on the ground planning to come back and pick it up after the ride. York was following along behind us and when he passed the shed, he noticed it. I jumped off Magic and encouraged York to pick up the antler and bring it to me. And he did! I like to end on a good note so we all went back to the barn. The ground was frozen and Magic’s footsteps were louder than normal. It was a good ride. The sun was shining.
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