When the circus came to town...

The mornings are cold now. Or colder…we´re still talking California. The nice crisp air stays a little longer. You can do things outdoors in the middle of the day, (even though it´s still in the upper 80´s for a couple of hours between 11am-15pm.)  Fall is here. I love fall!

 

 

 

 

I love lighting candles or a fire in the fireplace, read a good book and bake bread. I do a lot of baking during the cold season, I just can´t help myself. It is an addiction! This morning I baked bread and dreamed about all the yummy things I´m going to bake for Christmas. Still a few months left but I can smell the atmosphere; gingerbread, cinnamon rolls, saffron buns, fudge, cookies, chocolate cakes, candy, spice bread….

 

During Hayley’s afternoon nap I planned to take Trigger for a ride. I like riding him bitless, in a sidepull, but I somehow lost the reins that I usually have to the sidepull. I like them to be a little bit heavier. I made a pair of rope reins and attached them to the headstall for todays ride. I also attached the GoPro on my helmet to film the beautiful scenery and animals I was hoping to see on today’s ride. I groomed Trigger and saddled him up outside the main gate of the ranch. I still had the trailer and all my equipment there since last night. When he was ready to go Hayley woke up! I left him tied to the trailer and went in to feed her again.

 

 

 

 

 

When I came out half an hour later the sun was shining and it was hot. I thought Trigger might be thirsty and was going to let him drink before the ride. I opened the gate half way and walked into the yard with Trigger right behind me. From nowhere our German shepherd came and charged at him biting him under his belly right behind the cinch. Everything happened so fast. It was like if she wasn´t going to let him come in through the gate, which is weird since we use it all the time. The dog runs back into the yard bumping into the half open gate on the way and takes it with her. At the same time Trigger jumps right up in the air from the unexpected bite. He lands on top of the gate. He hangs there for a few seconds. Very scary! He panics and somehow helped himself down. It all was over in a few seconds. It happened very fast.

 

I know that I have to know where that dog is all the time. There is no one to blame except  me. So stupid. For a little while Trigger didn´t put weight on his left hind leg. All because I didn´t pay enough attention. I took the saddle of and walked him the loop I planned to ride. We had a nice, fast powerwalk. I wasn´t in the mood to enjoy the beautiful nature but I´m glad we went anyway. I believe Trigger is fine, that he just was in a state of shock…like me. I´ve learned my lesson. It´s not the first time that dog turned our yard into a circus and probably not the last. I can´t help it  but I´m a little dissappointed getting rubbed on some precious fun time with my horse, even though I know that it was my own fault and even though the most important thing was that Trigger didn´t get injured..I don´t want circumstances like this affect my mood but I sometimes do. What would you have done if it happened to you? What would you do to learn from the situation? See the positive sides of what happened?