Rules of the Road

I had to go out to the barn on Sunday evening to swap blankets on the ponies since the weather was supposed to go back up on Monday. Not crazy up, mind you, but like a whole degree above freezing. Which meant that it rained for three hours on Monday, but that's another story.

I was exhausted and didn't want to be out there for long, but also wanted to spend some time with the kids. So I thought I would put them in the arena together to play. I've done it before without incident, although it's been a while, so I prayed that it wouldn't be a decision that I would regret and result in me going out every day to ice a leg.

Just two wild and crazy ponies.

Phantom and Cisco very much have a big sister/little brother relationship. Cisco looks to Phantom for comfort when he's worried, and Phantom puts up with him wanting to stand in her bubble until he's gone a bit too far, then she'll nicely put him in his place.

When loose in the arena, Phantom likes to use the whole arena. Cisco likes to stay down at the safe end.

When I started to chase them, Phantom took off at a trot to the scary end. Cisco followed directly behind her - his nose couldn't get much more up her butt. In the beginning, Phantom let him.

A bit close.

That changed when they went back to the safe end of the arena. Phantom wanted to head back up to the scary end, Cisco wanted her to stay safe in his happy spot. So he kind of tried to herd her back to that end. Big sister did not like being told what to do by her big brother. So she squealed, tried to kick him (well, half-assed tried), and took off back down to the scary end.

Maintaining a safe following distance.

Thankfully, Cisco is smart and realized that he pissed her off and that he'd better keep his distance. So from then on, he maintained a safe following distance as he followed her around the arena.

Defensive driving.

They didn't really do too much - I don't like to chase them into galloping when there are two of them in there.

Parallel parked

What I found interesting was what happened after I stopped chasing them.

When he's loose by himself in the arena, Cisco isn't overly relaxed. He wants to follow me around - he'd be in my pocket if he could manage it. If I dash into the bathroom, or even leave the horse area to turn off the lights, he follows me along the fenceline and tries to shove his way through the gate.

What was interesting was that even though Phantom was in there with him, he still stayed attached to me. He followed right behind me when I went down to the scary end to pick poo. Phantom slowly followed him, just in case there were going to be treats involved.

The view in my rearview mirror.

Don't know what means, but I found it interesting!