Lily: 1, Horse-Eating Chainsaw of Doom: 0

I believe I have mentioned the neighbors bordering both the indoor and outdoor arenas who have taken it upon themselves to really make sure our horses are used to loud noises – not only did they build a massive treehouse this summer from scratch, they regularly use a massively loud chainsaw for God knows what. There is nothing more annoying than having a perfect ride until, right as you round the corner at the far end of the arena, the horse-eating Chainsaw of Doom revs up (and it literally sounds like it is right next to the arena wall). H.E.C.O.D (what a wonderful acronym) has successfully reduced our been-there-done-that school horse, Chip, to a shivering mass of horsemeat before – and I can’t say I blame him.

Of course, Lily and I were riding down at that end of the indoor today (rain once again flooded our outdoor) when the H.E.C.O.D started up in all its glory. It startled her, but all she did was give the tiniest dainty jump in place and crane her head to look at the noise. That’s what I call a brave horse! She didn’t bat an eyelash at it for the rest of our ride, no matter how many times it started and stopped.

She was, however, bested by a flake of hay that crumbled to the ground down the aisle from her while she was in the cross-ties. She jumped so high that she unsnapped the quick-release cross-ties (BEST invention ever, by the way.) in her efforts to get a look at the offending flake.

All in all, a successful outing.

PS: New blog layout, I wanted to get one with an actual picture of Lily, what do you all think?