Yes...I know that is the name of one of a Bruce Springsteen song, & I thought of it when I had to think of a title of this post. Thursday evening was perfect trail riding weather. A warm summer night with low humidity. Indy & I didn't start our ride until 8:00pm. It was just he & I again. We headed out toward the powerlines, and he had a lot of energy. The sun was setting but I knew we were only 2 days away from a full moon so we would have light if we ended up coming home in darkness. Along the trail we saw 2 friends riding their handsome mustangs. I know their freezebrands since they are on the left side of their necks in a specific code. Standardbreds, like Indy, have them on the right. Indy's starts with an "X" since he was born in 2001. We said hello, the horses all sniffed each other to say hello and onward we went in separate directions.
We ended up out to Tullo's harness racing track again and on the way, passed a few deer, a frog by a creek, a few rabbits, lots of birds. As we were on the track, the sun was disappearing into the horizon. I took this as a cue to start heading back. The Powerlines part of the trail is wide open and well lit during sundown. We took our time since Indy NOW likes to stand in the small water crossings to drink or smell the water. I say "now" since 1 1/2 years ago, crossing water was like the worse thing you could ask him to do. It was now 9:10 and as we entered back into the wooded trail, my eyes could see it was now dark. Horses have good night vision, but it was tough for me to see any of the small branches that were on the trail. Tap, tap, tap.....as my helmet tapped these branches. Mind you, I post when I trot so sometimes that rise can tap a small branch! Easy to duck under in daylight, but not when it's dark! After enough "taps', I knew to walk rather than trot home. It was surely "darkness on the edge of town".....and I could hear some scurrying of deer or whatever critters as we walked home under the lit moon. 9:30 and we were on the last dirt roadway(trail) that paralled with the horse fields. There were 5 of Indy's deer in his field. "Hello Deer", as they picked up their heads and started following us. I see lights now at Alison's home as well as the solar lights at the barn. We were home and the "boogie man" didn't get us!
We ended up out to Tullo's harness racing track again and on the way, passed a few deer, a frog by a creek, a few rabbits, lots of birds. As we were on the track, the sun was disappearing into the horizon. I took this as a cue to start heading back. The Powerlines part of the trail is wide open and well lit during sundown. We took our time since Indy NOW likes to stand in the small water crossings to drink or smell the water. I say "now" since 1 1/2 years ago, crossing water was like the worse thing you could ask him to do. It was now 9:10 and as we entered back into the wooded trail, my eyes could see it was now dark. Horses have good night vision, but it was tough for me to see any of the small branches that were on the trail. Tap, tap, tap.....as my helmet tapped these branches. Mind you, I post when I trot so sometimes that rise can tap a small branch! Easy to duck under in daylight, but not when it's dark! After enough "taps', I knew to walk rather than trot home. It was surely "darkness on the edge of town".....and I could hear some scurrying of deer or whatever critters as we walked home under the lit moon. 9:30 and we were on the last dirt roadway(trail) that paralled with the horse fields. There were 5 of Indy's deer in his field. "Hello Deer", as they picked up their heads and started following us. I see lights now at Alison's home as well as the solar lights at the barn. We were home and the "boogie man" didn't get us!
I LOVE your new blog!! Now I can follow you and Indy everywhere without ever having to get on a horse! LOL XOXOX
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