Spring...

...appears to be in the air!

Went to fetch the little darling in this afternoon to hack out with a couple of friends - it was highly entertaining.
If there is one thing my girl is not, it is hard to catch - I've never had to follow her even a couple of steps to get hold of her.  Not so today!

Betty's guide to winding up Mum:

Step one:  Stand in middle of mud-bath with head in giraffe-pose
Step two:  Spot mum with headcollar and trot towards her
Step three: Decide small elderly pony standing near the gate is Far Too Scary to go past and bugger off in opposite direction.
Step four:  Have stand-off with dominant mare, then gallop at Mum shouting at her to Save Me From the Vicious Standardbred.  (At this point I flung the lead rope at the two mares charging towards me and retreated several paces)
Step five: Pretend to give up and resume giraffe-stance in middle of mud-bath.

Repeat several times until bored of game.

Eventually got hold of the flippin mare (she stood like butter wouldn't melt as soon as I actually got close enough to get the headcollar on), and she dragged me through the gate, charged up the lane and proceeded to  stomp all over the yard, knocking over hoof oil and snapping a mane comb until I relented and gave her a hay net, at which point she suddenly became sweetness and light.

So got her semi-clean and tacked up with aid of Magic Haynet, and set off on hack.  In fairness, she was really good considering her general demeanor, but we had some silly spooks at stuff she passed yesterday without blinking, and lots of jogging sideways on the way home!  I dread to think what would have happened if we'd gone on our own...

Arrived home rather wet but intact, whereupon Madame decides that waiting for her tea is not acceptable, unties herself (the only time I forget to thread the lead rope back on itself!) and scoffs my friend's horse's bucketful before anyone's spotted her wanderings.  Thankfully it was only the same as she'd have had anyway, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing at her cheek.  She's normally so well mannered, but I think she'd had a brain transplant tonight.

Anyway, she won me round in the end by coming to say goodbye and nuzzling into my chest, then she stood for ages submitting to kisses and general fuss, and really did look a bit upset when I had to leave her.  Love her, even when she is being a twit!