A walk onto a TV set

After Angel was buried in the trees, I took Ginger out to see her grave. I guess smell is the more operative word. I don't know how much of death that animals sense or understand but I thought Ginger would be curious about where her life long friend had gone. She sniffed around the edges and the boulders that Linda and Travis had placed on top. She sniffed the bushes all around and then made a larger concentric circle of sniffing. She didn't stop and mourn and keen over the grave...I don't know why I expected that she might. Maybe old dogs have no fear or sense of loss. They do live in the moment, that is for sure. She finished sniffing and then looked at me as if to say, 'Well, lets go for a walk".
We bridled the horses and with Ginger we walked down the road. It seemed like too much work to saddle them up and ride them and I think we all wanted to just enjoy a very simple uncomplicated walk.
We walked down the muddy path to the creek. The creek had moved considerably since we had last walked down to see it. Angel has not been mobile for some time, so we had missed the changes from the spring floods. The horses considered the rocky creek and carefully picked their way down the slope and through the water. I had hoped Maggie, who I was leading would have chosen a more shallow route but we both got across with out my boots filling up with too much icy water.
Then we climbed the cliff on the north side, Deep ruts have scarred the hill side, probably made by run off, as no vehicle could make it back up the steep slope if it had managed to stay up right down to the creek.
Ginger valiantly climbed the steep track and seemed eager to get to the top. Maggie who is well over 20 years old, and suffers the pains of old roping injuries plodded along. It was me who was gasping for breath. I thought I was in shape but the animals showed me otherwise.

Eventually we came to the top where the grass was green and sweet. Maggie's head rose up and her ears swiveled forward, she put a spring in her gait and was soon crunching juicy mouthfuls of green grass beside her buddy Jewel. We let them roam around and then took in the landscape. We were on the set of H*******d. Shhhh, don't tell anyone. We were very careful and we stayed on the road until it was just too much tempation and we let Jewel run in the arena. She flew around, head held high and tail streaming out behind her. Ginger and Maggie just watched, I wonder what they were thinking. Fortunately no one pooped. If they had, we would have had a hard time disposing of it in the little doggie bags in my pocket. So we left no evidence that we were there, and we walked back down the hill.

Anybody Home?

Tap tap tap....any cookies in here?
What a princess!!! Let into the yard to graze on the last of the grass before the snow flies, Jewel takes things a step further and asks for a treat. What a beautiful and intelligent animal! And she knows it!!

Goodbye to a friend

On Tuesday Oct 28th we said good bye to our old friend Angel. She and Ginger have been life long buddies, actually I think they were canine soul sisters. Angel recently suffered from a dibilitating spinal myopathy, she had lost the use of her back legs and her life had become frustrating and exhausting. Her humans had tirelessly carried her around and gave her the very best of everything but Angel's time had come and she was finally free to fly.