Running with the Trickster

When Luba and I were warming up in the grass ring yesterday, a red fox ran out of the woodpile, across the back of the ring and through the other paddock. She ran about two feet in front of the Standardbred mares who did not blink an eye. Obviously a regular visitor.

Every time I see a fox, it reminds me of Fox, the Trickster. In Ukrainian folk tales, he is called Les (Fox) Mykyta. My Baba bought us this book by Ivan Franko when we were kids.

In the days following my gedo's passing last September, I also saw a lot of foxes. So a red fox also reminds me of Gedo, who shared my passion for horses.

My gedo, Metro Kobelka, is on the right.

Luba has been a Trickster lately too. In the morning, Lloyd takes down three extra bales of hay for the evening feed and leaves them by the fence. In the evening, there are only two bales. He thought maybe he was getting forgetful. But the other day, he caught Luba down on her forelegs, sticking her neck under the fence and pulling in a bale. He has Bayco fencing which is flexible with a line of electric part way upand a line of electric at the top. So she is clever enough to do all of this without getting zapped.

Today, when I walked around the side of the barn, I was startled by an indignant whinny. I caught Luba with her front legs and neck through the fence eating the grass on the other side. She quickly pulled herself back into the paddock and stood there looking at me like a little kid with chocolate all around her mouth who says, "No, I wasn't eating any chocolate".

Part of the human conditioning part of my 100 mile plan is to run a bit. We all know it is more motivating when you have a training partner. So today, my running partner was Luba, the Trickster. I ran with her in hand. We went maybe 2.5 miles in 30 minutes. I took 7 one-minute breaks. So I am somewhere between week 2 and 3 according to this "run a bit" recipe from a course I took from Rick Hellard of Zone3sports during my lunch hours last spring.

I had a hot bath with epsom salts when I got home.  I fear that I may be stiff tomorrow.... but Pine Tree 100 is only 11 weeks away.

Keep your eye on the prize.