Wednesday Walks: Goggles' turn

A friend and I have been trying to take Goggles and her TB for a weekly hack. So far we're hitting roughly every other week, but that's alright! Two weeks prior I didn't get any pictures because Goggles had been off for five days prior and her horse hadn't left the property since June. So he was passaging and Goggles was being "wild". Turns out his "wild" is just vigorously shaking his head, grunting, and occasionally flailing with a front foot. But we only walked the 1/4 mile to the stop sign at the corner and then turned around in the interest of self presevation.

Last week, he'd worked the three days prior and was actually the brave leader. Her TB was still a bit genuinely wild, but that is who he is as a person. I was SO proud of Goggles though, he was SO GOOD. 

We hacked out from JT's barn which is in a very horsey area. The shoulders tend to be nice and large and people are generally respectful. But the roads are 45+ mph so there's a little extra pressure to be a somewhat good citizen and not jump sideways in the vicinity of cars. 

After crossing the larger road, on a slightly smaller side road. Such pretty views. 

Looking around while they lead. 

Patches of mowed grass have slowly evolved back into not being a thing after being a THING for a bit when he was learning about jumping. 

Beautiful pre-dusk sky. Goggles scoping out jumps in the distance 

These big ole oaks are my favorite thing. This was on the way back. There is a HUGE field off on the right that recently sold. Today the gate to that field was OPEN... we plotted... surely they wouldn't mind if we went for a little gallop in that... 

Goggles was power walking home at this point. He was kind of sticky going away from home, but he was mostly being the brave leader, so I totally get it. 

He was taking snacking very seriously. I felt like I was about to get pitched over his head a couple of times. He also feels about 18 hands tall when he does this, the ground is sooooooo far away. 

Back with his friend who promptly told him to get out of his space and came to ask me for treats. 

Bonus Ben photo. He was down at JT's so he could get his hocks injected the next day and I was hand grazing him while waiting for my friend. He grazed for a while then came pretty close and took a nap behind me. This isn't the first time he's done it, but it was the first time I captured it. He's a HIGH alert horse, so it makes me so flattered that he trusts me enough to nap with me as his herd. 

He was stalled overnight, so I kept him wrapped to protect that cellulitis leg