It’s a breath of fresh air and a sight for sore eyes to see the white fencing that runs across the front and lines the driveway. The short drive up to the farm is all uphill and the place feels like it’s much closer to the sky, leaving behind the small city’s noise and hubbub.
Odin’s pasture is back behind the barn, but as soon as he hears my car, he heads in to his stall to wait for me.
I’m here much earlier than my usual, after work time, in full light, and Odin is a wreck. He must’ve had a heyday rolling around in the mud because he was covered. The look on his face when I came out of the tack room with his halter and rope instead of a scoop of feed was priceless. But he met me at the stall door and put his nose in the halter, willing to do something a bit different than usual.
Curry comb first, to break up the mud and scratch the itches. Odin stretched out a front leg for me to scratch an armpit and belly. He brought his other front leg out front too, his way of lowering his back for a good scratch on top.
Inspired by our interactive communication going on, we headed out to the arena for awhile.
It’s been awhile since we played, and though he responded to everything I asked, his attention wasn’t always on me. There’s cows pastured next to the arena, a neighbor’s Longhorns and they caught his eye.
We ran through our usual things, which he did willingly and perfectly. I got a notion to ask him to jump over a barrel, but that didn’t happen. We’ll try that again next time. I stepped up on a flatbed trailer and walked him along side it. Yes, it will be tall enough to be a mounting block for me, and he had no problem with it. (No matter how limber I get, reaching a foot up to about the height of my shoulder to get on Odin ain’t gonna happen.) We worked a little on shadowing, then headed in, but not before I snapped another photo.
A scoop of feed and another of alfalfa cubes and Odin was content. Today, the cat didn’t climb up on the water tank to drink with him like she did the other day, but she thought about it. I guess she was still a little miffed about getting a little tangled up in Odin’s feet as he trotted around me in the arena.
It was a good day, a fun time playing with Odin. Time to head home and back to the city. It was hard closing the stall door behind me, locking up the tack room and sliding the barn doors closed. It’s hard to leave that peace behind. But, leaving the farm, I am treated to one last slice of beauty.
The top of the hill, much closer to the sky. It soothes the soul. I’ll be back tomorrow.
