In which a busy day on the trail lets us see lots of different stuff

Duana has been spending lots of time with young Freya, 

teaching her how to cope with unusual stuff we might see on the trail.

Team Pretty-Pretty

There was all kinds of great stuff for that kind of practice on the trail today!

First up:  a gathering of Search and Rescue dogs, out for a training exercise.

This dog is about a year old, and just learning how to respond appropriately to horses

"Your horse is pretty," said the handler.  "My dog is young and will probably bark.  I hope that won't bother your horse too much."

"Barking doesn't bother my horse at all," I told her (we live with the never-silent Floof siblings, after all).  "Would you like to practice with your dog?  We're happy to help!"

So we did.

Considering my horse was a confirmed dog-hater a few years ago, this was a huge stride.  However, Fiddle takes seriously a charge to teach young things how to behave and she was quiet and perfect.  She did beg for a few cookies, which were provided.

Happiness all the way around.

Once this guy handed over a cookie, Freya was ready to follow him home

There were lots of bikes out today also.  One zipped out of the woods and startled everyone (including the riders) and was very apologetic and lovely.  The others we saw were lovely without having to apologize.

Eleni loves riding trails, and loves riding Hana.  Freya loves having Hana (and Fiddle) nearby for security.
 Hana loves trails and hanging out with Freya (and Fiddle).  Everybody wins.

Blue sky, pretty trails, la-la-la

And then, Eleni spotted this:

The bear track is a bit larger than my hand

Cool! We've been seeing plenty of bear "sign" this spring, but so far no bears.

Ahem.

Can you see the bear?

Lemme zoom in.

See it?

A little closer?

Under the branch hanging out, photo right

Here, can you see it now?

Finally we see a bear AND I get a picture, unlike the time I DIDN'T GET A PICTURE

Duana was a little spooked by the bear, but the horses weren't worried at all.  

And Fiddle, bless her, knew what I needed:  "Stand still so you can take pictures, right?"  

(so yeah, shooting photos at the bear with both hands on the camera, no hands on the horse, SERIOUSLY people, there's a reason I ride this horse, don't do the dumb things I do unless your horse is a card-carrying member of Team Sensible!)

Team Sensible is also ginormous

It was a good day.