All is well that ends well.........

I guess not every day can be easy. Ah, but what would we learn if we never had challenging days. Lets back up a few day back to last Monday. When I got to the barn to help Wendy clean stalls, she had asked me if I knew anyone that would take a dog that had just been taken from an abusive and/or neglectful situation. I thought right away of my parents who had recently lost their dog. So, she told the woman that had the dog would bring him to the barn. The woman said she'd bring the dog to the barn between 12:00 and 12:30 PM. Wendy had to leave but I waited. Wendy didn't know too much about the dog other then it was 8 months to a year old and thought it was a Lab.

When the dog arrived, it was indeed in poor condition. VERY thin, small (only 18 lbs) and skittish. A male and not neutered. But, very pretty and sooooooooo sweet. Long story short, I took the dog over to my parents house and mom said no but foolish me couldn't let him go once I had him.




Anyway, back to the mule. I decided to go to the barn to ride Louie today. And I decided to take the new dog Lance with me. Wendy had left a crate in the heated viewing room where I could put him while I rode. The barn was busy today. Several kids riding in and out of the arena and around the barn outside. When I got Louie up on the cross ties, he was VERY anxious. The kids were riding in and out behind him and he did NOT like that. He wiggled around and pawed and danced. I couldn't pay attention to Louie and Lance both so I put Lance in the crate. Well, as soon as I was out of sight, Lance started barking frantically and LOUDLY like a crazed thing. I went into the viewing room to try to quiet Lance. When I got back out in the barn, Louie had spun around and was twisted up in the cross ties. And....Lance was right back to barking frantically. At this point I am starting to feel as anxious as my beloved pets. AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH! And everyone is eyeballing the crazy lady with the spazzy mule and the barking dog.

I straightened Louie out and let him know I was not pleased with his immature behavior though I did realize that his anxiety was real. Then I went back into the viewing room and let Lance know I wasn't pleased with his behavior either though I understood that he too was suffering from very real anxiety. In the end Lance shut up and Louie stood still though none of us were very happy and just dealing with our situations.

I got Louie saddled and took him into the arena. I lunged him first. He was quite foolish. There were mule eating monsters everywhere today. Sigh. I thought they had all moved out but I guess not. The girls rode by the open door on the end of the arena spooking Louie who jumped, spun and bolted off. I just got him settled when the girls passed the door again with the same result from Louie. I got him settled the second time when Willow, the barn owners dog passed the door with yet another spin and bolt from Louie. He was not pulling away from me but still, geesh!

After a while, he did finally start to settle down enough so I decided it might be safe to ride him. He lined up like a perfect boy at the mounting block and stood like a rock. Finally some good behavior! And overall he rode well. There was one spot in the arena where there was an extremely large mule eating monster and Louie kept jumping and spinning there but nothing that was at all hard to handle or out of control. In the end, he got his mulie brain engaged and we had a good ride. So, as they say, all's well that ends well.