I got an email from Linda last night saying she and some friend were planning to ride and she wanted to know if I'd like to join them. I said to let me know when and where and I would join them if I could. I've been working like a dog all week trying to get my house and yard all spiffy for the 80th birthday party I'm having for my mom on Saturday. I still had a lot of work to day but really needed a little play time.
Linda called about 7:30 am. The plan was to ride at 9:00 am. Her friend Diane was riding. Another friend Ann wanted to ride also but needed a horse to ride. I had never met Ann but was thrilled to have someone to ride Marie. So, it was decided that we would ride from my house. When they arrived I took Ann out back to meet Louie and Marie. Louie bowed for Ann but was not too keen on fetching. He knew something was up. Silly boy. It was cloudy when we headed out but turned out to be an absolutely lovely day. Low 70's, the sun came out and it was breezy enough to keep the bugs off for the most part. We did the Adams Rd. loop. We saw some very fresh moose poo but no moose. Nor did any of the equines indicate there was one near. All equines were very well behaved and we had a great ride. The sissor snap on Louie's breast collar that connects to the cinch broke towards the end of the ride. He gave no indication that the strap was flapping around between his legs. And just when we got back in my yard, Marie's bridle broke. Good thing it didn't happen out on trail! Yikes!
In the afternoon I decided to go out and play/train with Louie. He was eager to play so we did a bit of fetching and a few bows. Then I asked him to step up on the overturned watertub. He decided he'd rather step up on the bridge next to the tub. Well, I figured this was ok though I was quite sure he know I wanted him to step up onto the tub. Since he already had two feet on the bridge I then asked him to move across the bridge and as soon as he got all 4 feet up on it.........the bridge collapsed! It had 2"x10" supports under it and the supports gave out and collapsed sideways. I sure wish I'd gotten a video of Louie's expression when the bridge went down. I just love how mules tend to react to things. It startled him for sure but he just froze until the bridge stopped moving. Then he so carefully turned and tip-toed off it! Then scooted off a few feet and turned to look over what had happened. The decking was intact so he was in no danger of getting hurt. I didn't realize my bridge was in bad shape underneath as the decking was all solid. Guess it's time to build a new one.
So, I pulled the overturned watertub away from the collapsed bridge and asked Louie to come over and step up. I wondered if he would trust me after being startled in the bridge collapse but he didn't even hesitate. He came right over and stepped right up. Good boy! Hope he doesn't have bridge phobia now though.
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