Saturday, May 04, 2013

Too Cute for Words

And Tucker Takes to the Trail

The wind died down as the day went on.

I needed to get a walk in myself, so I took my hand grass cutter and headed out to the short woods trail. I figured I'd clear come of the vines and briers blocking the "go arounds" for the fallen trees.

I heard a noise behind me, turned around, and there was Peppercorn, the black barn kitty right behind me.


I thought, "OK, he'll go back home soon. I'm going pretty far into the woods.

Nope. Peppercorn followed me all the way, trotting happily along with me as if he were a dog I was taking for a walk. I was out there for nearly an hour, stopping now and then to clear some branches off the trail.  I thought PepperC was going to tire out, but he just kept up, stopping himself now and then to sniff something or rub up against a tree to leave his scent. 

It was all too cute for words--my puppycat Peppercorn and I on a walk. 

When I got home I did some general trimming of a tree in the arena fenceline and then came back into the house for lunch. 

This brief respite ended when I decided I'd recuperated enough to go out to ride. 

It was Tucker's turn. 

I rode in the arena for about 15 minutes or so to see how he was feeling, both physically and emotionally. He was, to say the least, on the "laid back" side. Until I cantered him, I had to work to get some forward at the trot. But considering my plan, I really didn't mind too much. After the canter, he was trotting much better, so I finished up with a few more circuits and headed out to the woods. 

We had a really lovely ride. Tucker kept up a nice forward walk--when he was walking, that is. *G*  I did let him stop to eat tree leaves along the way. This has been an accepted practice on trail rides, mostly because it keeps him happy and distracts him from spooking at things. You've heard the phrase, "Can't walk and chew gum?" Well, for Tucker it's kind of, "Can't spook and chew leaves."  

But he wasn't spooky anyhow and hardly gave a second glance to all the fallen trees he'd never seen before. 

So, I ended up having a nice day out with two of my beloved barn boys, Tuck and Pepper. 

5 comments:

  1. that's excellent, i recall you've had some issues with tucker when out...

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  2. Anonymous7:18 PM

    Very nice day. I've had cats before who would go on walks with me, or with me and my dog, sometimes for pretty long distances from home.

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  3. Peppercorn is just too cute. Walking along with you in the woods I think he's more like a "guard cat" making sure you were okay.

    I like the "can't spook and chew leaves" theory. Sounds like a nice ride with Tucker. And a good day all around with lots of things accomplished.

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  4. Yay! As long as Tucker doesn't emulate the tree-climbing.

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  5. Nice day! Animals are such good company!

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