Saturday Sunshine, More Miles

The day started out on the chilly side but the sun was out. I would take JB out first. Things got off on the wrong foot while I was trying to get him ready. His deep seated fear of motorcycles, 4 wheelers, snowmobiles, (or anything in that category ) came bubbling to the surface when a neighbor from down the road came by our house on a scooter. JB happened to be tied to the trailer, far out of harms way , but it doesn't matter with him. It could be a mile away and he gets worried about it. He paced frantically at the trailer as the scooter passed by. I am not sure how I am ever going to get this horse through this now. He was actually doing quite well until last fall when he was traumatized at the ride in Washington when we had to pass right through the middle of a dirt bike rally.Anyways, I could see that the scooter set things in motion for our ride today and I almost decided against going since I was a bit on the edgy side now, and I knew I had seen a couple other 4 wheelers go by earlier. If I went out, there was a good chance I might run into one of them. I really didn't want to give JB another bad experience but at the same time, I need to continue to expose him to it and hope that eventually I can get him over this fear. I took my time saddling and and getting him ready trying to decide what to do. I decided to handwalked him up and down my dead end road for about 15 minutes to see if he would settle in a bit(and it would give me a chance to settle my nerves) It seemed to work and he started relaxing a bit. I walked him up the road until I hit the dirt road and then got on. JB was pretty tense but after about a mile, he settled in. No dirtbikes or 4 wheelers to be seen.
Most of the vehicles that came by were courteous today and slowed way up. Ofcourse, I stop my horse and face the oncoming car. It seems to send the message loud and clear to "slow down"! Not sure why it works but I am going to keep doing it. We made it back and the last mile of the 4 we completed was probably the best. Just as we were coming over the last little hill before my house came in to sight, the 4 wheeler came down the road. JB ofcourse locked on and tension ripped through him again. Luckily the 4 wheeler went the other way.. thank goodness. JB relaxed again and we made it home with no further incident.

Since the sun was still shining, I quick grabbed a snack and caught Maggie.
The photos posted below in the reverse order that I wanted them to post in. I tried everything and cannot resort them on the page. I even tried refreshing my blog by clearing my cache, but it didn't work. I gave up after fiddling with it for a half hour. (If anyone has any suggestions, please do tell because it's absolutely maddening not to be able to organize the photos the way I want to)

Anyways, Maggie is saddled and ready to go in the first photo. I have to ride her in my western because its the only saddle I have that fits her table back. She is ridiculously broad. Scroll down to see the before and after She was an absolute mess when I caught her. She apparently has been enjoying the mud a little too much.

Maggie and I went about 4.5 miles. This was the second time I have had ridden her with out a companion. She's very honest when she is unsure about something. She just stops short(very short) and looks. Sometimes she shies a bit but so far nothing too out of control. All in all, I was quite proud of her today.