Today was our day off, so no riding. It’s been cold, windy and rainy, but not too bad, all in all. I went to the stables in the morning, and we went for a grass-eating walk. It was lovely, albeit pretty chilly, and Talo was very happy to be out and about, eating grass and getting his feet dirty with mud.

After a while, we headed back, and he was energetic and sweet, so we ran a short distance together. There’s something about running with him that makes me so happy and gives me a feeling of freedom. He even cantered lightly alongside me, it was super sweet. I realized he has some energy to spend, so I released him in the arena, and he ran around a bit. I put him back in his stall and went home.

I came back to the stables in the afternoon. The wind was much stronger, but there was no rain, so I took Talo for another grass walk. He ate enthusiastically, and after a while, along came a very scary thing – a huge plastic bag. It was an empty bag, one of the bags used for wood shavings. Probably flew off from a trash pile. Talo was surprisingly unfazed by it, so I decided to take it to the next level – I grabbed the bag and we did some desensitizing exercises! He was a bit skittish, but after a few waves of the bag he was perfectly fine with it! I waved it around, made noises with it, rubbed it all over him, and Talo was a real trooper! I was so happy and proud of him! My spooky boy, being brave and listening to me, even in the presence of a VERY SCARY BAG. Such a wonderful horse, he never ceases to amaze me. I love you, Talo!