Deer Eat Horses

You didn't know that?
According to Lucy, it's a well-known fact.
(it was news to me too)

I rode last night after work; at around 6pm.  Brett was too tired to join me; he had been working on the compost bin all day.  It's looking good.

Lucy and I were all alone in the dressage court.  Alone, except for the deer on our neighbor's property across the road.  Across the stream, through the trees, past the fence, across the road, and up on the hill.  ...clearly within striking distance.

Lucy spooked.
She did her best imitation of a giraffe.
She tried to bolt.
She refused to go and then threatened to rear.  I swallowed, said a Hail Mary, and made her go.

We did half circles to the center line, then leg yields back to the rail.
Over and over and over.
I kept her thinking.
We changed direction constantly.
Figure eights, spirals and serpentines.
No straight lines; no time to think about deer.

When she finally settled into a relaxed trot we stopped.
I asked her to back and she softly did so.
I hopped off.  We stood and watched the deer making their way across the hill, under the pines.
Then we walked back to the barn.

Well, I started to walk and Lucy charged past me.  (lemme outta here!)
We practiced walking.
I stop, she stops.
I turn, she turns.
I back, she backs (that's a new one, I copied it from Teresa's work with Carmen).
She sighed, dropped her head, and we walked quietly back to the tie rail.

So now you know.  Deer are deadly.  To horses.