He does love me

I'm not sure if it's just that I've had time to rest and breathe for a bit.... Dan's getting older and more mature (Ha!), I've been learning and able to reflect on things with the other horses, or if it's because Dan is now really enjoying his current job... or all of the above.. but, I'm feeling the love. 

And I know... I know he loves me. But his crabby cranky faces all the time really do start to grate on one. But lately, he's been a little less cranky... a little more snuggly... Even at the show last weekend he was letting people pet him without making faces. Although he also made faces too at other horses sometimes. And he still makes faces at dinner, but... he's been friendlier in the pasture. Maybe it's just all the cookies. I don't know. But... I'm reminded today that he really does take care of me.... Almost every time I ride one of the girls in the arena, he will eventually meander up to keep an eye on us. And okay.. maybe it's his herd instead of of me, but... there are many times where he and the girls are way far apart in the pasture. So I'm gonna pretend it's me. :)

And he was so good on that bridge and didn't panic. So yeah... I'm glad he loves me. :) And I love him! Which, is easy to do. 

As an aside... today I was cleaning out the water troughs since they get so hot and slimy quickly with the heat and humidity. And I had my little scrub brush and he was so curious and tried to grab it. I brushed his teeth with it and he let me. Hee hee. What a silly sir! I'm grateful that we found our happy place. And I feel a little guilty that he wasn't happy for so long, but... Liz reminded me... it wasn't for lack of trying. And there was a time when he was very happy eventing too. So hopefully I've managed his pain well enough now and picked a job that doesn't make it worse.