Inspiration Point

Today we went to Inspiration Point.  It was a good ride.  Zoe was relaxed... for the most part.  We saw deer 2 different times.  We went up Beginners Hill, over the rocks the 4-wheelers go over, along the fence line with the loose horses, turned left to Inspiration Point.  Sometimes going up there Zoe is nervous, but today she was good.  The ears on our new picture are funny.  She just couldn't decide where to focus her attention and eventually stopped twisting her ears around.  The ride back was good....of course we didn't go back the same way we came.  We got down to the bottom and took the high road back and at the bottom of that turned left and wound our way back to the cow pasture on small trails.  As we were coming up the last hill out of the cow pasture we met 2 friends from the barn going out on a ride.  We stopped and talked for a while.  Zoe wanted to leave right away, but we stayed to talk for a while and eventually she relaxed.  Then it was off for home.  At the top of the hill there is a choice of going around the rocks or take the path thru the rocks.  I always choose thru and Zoe always wishes I would choose around.  She usually slows down as she goes thru the rocks....but she has improved over time.  I remember when we had to stop, look at the rocks, snort, and charge thru them as if they were going to eat her.   Now she is just slow and wary.  Go figure.  Then we stopped to take another picture.  Zoe was unhappy with that suggestion.  She did stand still when I took the picture, but then decided to call out...."is anyone out there?"  Of course no one answered.  So I decided that side passing as we were going home was in order.  Something to get her mind off the home direction....I didn't have a whole lot of time left to ride so to turn around and go in the opposite direction was not an option today...so side passing would have to do.  She walked home just fine and calling while out on the trail didn't happen again.  It sometimes happens as we walk the road home.  The calling on the road doesn't bother me anymore.  She used to call alot on the road and in the early stages she was "rushy".  I would get on her case and make her back up or turn around, I'd make life miserable for her, but that didn't seem to help the problem.  So I took some advice I read about from an old cowboy...just ignore it.  If I make a big deal about it, then it's a big deal.  But if I ignored it...she ended up calming down.   I wouldn't recommend that advice for every horse challenge but it seemed to work in this one.   But now she just walks beside me calmly always adjusting to my walking speed as I speed up or slow down...and every once in a while she might call out once on the way home.  It's a big difference from when we first started...so I will take it, it's an improvement.  4.99 miles, max speed 8.68, avg speed 3.20