Rode Magic into the Ash pasture to check a cow that was off by herself. The cow, in fact, did have a new calf as might be expected from a cow that was off by herself. Magic and I rode by about 10 feet away so not to disturb mother and calf. We went across the dam into the Oak pasture and rode in the arena. Maybe I am more aware of the bending and the lack of it. We are working on it. Then we rode around the Oak pasture going to the gate to Shirey Mountain. In the far corner of the pasture we jumped a bobcat. He must have been crouched waiting on something. We did not see him until he bolted. He was about 15 feet away. It startled both me and Magic. Magic reacted so little that he did not even change his pace. Wildcats do not scare Magic! When we were on the trail up to the top of Shirey, we jumped a deer. The first thing we noticed was the deer coming out of the brush and crossing the road about 75 feet ahead. This startled Magic more than the bobcat. (It still was what I would call a very mild spook.) I have a theory about what and how a horse is spooked. Something jumps up. The first thing the horse, or human, or whatever, must do is determine if “it’s coming at ya'” or moving away. If it is running away, that is good. If it is coming at ya’, the natural reaction is to flee, run! My dogs have caused me to get dumped more than anything else. In the past the grass would grow tall around the arena. When the dogs would come in to check on us, the horse would spook, often dumping me. I did not understand, it was our dogs! It puzzled me when I was riding and jumped a deer 10 feet away, the horse did not spook as bad, even in tall grass. I learned to watch the dogs carefully when riding the arena and realized that the horse became aware that something was in the grass and it was coming towards us. Bingo! Big spook. John’s on the ground. The only time Magic spooked seriously was when a calf felt cornered in a nook in the log pile and bolted towards us so it could escape. I hit the ground. Magic felt sorry for me but he was in the clear about 20 feet away watching the calf run off. This theory is about horses that are not bad to spook. All bets are off with a spooky horse. Newt threw me hard and quick and I never figured out what spooked him. Anyway, I rode Magic, the brave horse, up on Shirey, around the Shirey trail and back to the barn. It was a good ride.
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