Six months with Ryon

Junk in his trunk
He gleams like a newly minted penny in the sunlight, a warm reddish brown colour.  It's the peak of summer and when there isn't a breeze and the humidity is close to 100% (on a day like today), his coat is mottled with dark brown patches of sweat.  Not that we haven't tried everything to prevent that and keep him cool, including buying him a second fan that sat on a ledge inside his stall.  Luxury accommodations, I tell you.  Fearing horsey shenanigans, we ziptied that sucker to the wall.  The next day, we found the box fan, hanging by its electrical cord, laying face down in the shavings of his stall.  Not to be deterred, we tried bungee cords, which were subsequently ripped apart.  So as far as I'm concerned, the boy can stand to sweat a little bit longer.

He spotted the decomposing corpse of the possum long before I did.  It was lying on the side of the path, pinkish-white belly up and swarmed by a swirling cloud of flies.  His head perked up and his ears pricked in the corpse's direction.  I had been daydreaming, surrounded by the damp, earthy smell of fresh greenery after the past week's rain, and idly scratching one of my many mosquito bites.  Both of us wrinkled our noses when we drew closer, a bit in shock at the dead body, incongruous with a Sunday afternoon trail ride.

He sees things - my bright-eyed boy - notices things, hears things before I do, indicating with loud snorts that all is not right or normal.  "Pay attention, mom" he seems to be telling me, as he did with the shirtless hiker crouched under the bridge, wringing sweat from his shirt and kneeling down to catch his breath.  He trusts me to take care of him and to protect him.  No longer does he nervously back up 20 yards at the sight of the monstrous wooden bridge.  Patience and persistence won the day and he daintily picks up his hooves and clip clops across it.

We've come a long long way Ryon bub and I can't wait to see what comes next.


Comments

  1. Aww, he sounds like the perfect horse. I'm so glad you're having a blast with him. He sounds like a smartie!

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  2. oh, what a sweet post. the love of your life, isn't he :) xoxo

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  3. A long way, indeed:) Here's to many more milestones, Rooth!

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  4. time flies.. I bet he's so glad you chose him, and tother way around of course!

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  5. I'm still laughing about him taking down his fan. Twice. Have you seen that video/gif of the black lab swatting his birthday cupcake away? That's what I imagine Ryon did. xo

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  6. This is so beautifully moving. There is no love like this is there? I grabbed a faux fleece for a chair for my office this weekend and my beagle seems to think it's a very, very still white animal. She scuttles past it, pressed up against the wall, as far away as she can, as fast as she can, casting suspicious glances in its direction, and then glares at ME. She clearly does not trust me to take care of things around here. ;)

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  7. Oh my goodness you've come a long way!

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  8. Aw, he's growing up to be such a mature boy! I love hearing about his progress and how your relationship with him is evolving. What a lucky horse to have you for his human mama. :)

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  9. This is so lovely! There's a special kind of bond between people and their animal counterparts.

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  10. <3 oh you guys are too cute. love the way you wrote this dedication.

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  11. this is so sweet, i ended up with a lump in my throat by the time i finished reading. i wish you could bring him to pdx when you visit so i could meet him too!

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  12. thanks for sharing interesting, have you heard of 'Prayer of the oft-Repentant' ?

    Take Care

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  13. I understand, Ryon....I don't like a draft directly on me either. But mom was just trying to look out for you as usual. So you keep being a good boy looking out for her!

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  14. You definitely sound like a great team! Must love Ryon!

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  15. Ooh, he's growing up!!! It must feel so nice that he now notices and assesses instead of just panicking.

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  16. They grow up so fast! And he's such a good, handsome boy. When he's not up to shenanigans, naturally.

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  17. Oh my gosh, a photo of his butt. How cute :). Did you braid that tail yourself?! Luxury hairstylist as well! Amazing how far you've come in only 6 months.

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  18. yay ryon! making great strides! :) and i love that braid of yours!

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