Tacoda - 01-07-09

Fourth Ride - I got home with about an hour of daylight left, so I called Tacoda up to the gate and he came running. Then I haltered him (he shoved his head eagerly into the halter) and took him out of the pasture. I tacked him up without issue.

I walked him over to the mounting block and lined him up. He stood perfectly while I got on and continued to stand while I put my feet in the stirrups, though he did turn his head to watch.

We rode at a nice walk around the yard a few times and he kept pulling to the road so on the third or fourth time around, I let him go out to the road. We walked liesurely down the road, stopping to sniff everyone's garbage cans and trash. He had to put his nose on everything new in the driveways.

We got to the house with the horse that always runs up to the fence, but it was stalled in the back, so I was relieved of that. We rode nicely all the way down to the goats at the end of the road. Tacoda was a perfect boy.

On the way back, we stopped to wait for a truck to pull out of it's driveway. While we were waiting, a man opened his gate to drive his truck and trailer out and two pit bulls got loose. They ran straight for us, snarling and snapping.

All I could think was.. "Oh shit, he's going to throw me and I'm going to be eaten by dogs."

As they reached us, I saw one leap up in front of Tacoda. Until then, he had been frozen there watching the dogs. He's not afraid of dogs and wasn't sure what to make of it until then.

When the dog jumped up, Tacoda wheeled around and bunched up. At first I thought he was going to explode but then in that second, I noticed he was tucking his head, as if trying to turn his back and pretend they weren't there. I knew he was scared, I could feel him tremble.

When he had turned, the dogs started circling. By this time the owner was running out to get them. So I picked the whip off the saddle horn and shooed it at the dogs yelling "GIT. GO"

That kept them at bay until the owner caught them. Tacoda stood there a few more minutes and then finally turned his head to see if they were gone. I praised him for the way he handled it and we started home. He walked out nicely and by the time we got home, I could tell he was tired, probably from the scare more than the ride.

I was so proud of him. He's doing great.