In the shade

I didn't get an early start this morning, and by the time I had finished the chores it already felt too hot to play. I didn't feel too happy about that, as I really wanted to do something with Iona. However, as I headed for the house I had an idea. There is a big shade tree near the back door, maybe we could do something there!

So I went and got her on the 45' line. I brought the umbrella, as we've been working on being less scared of that. I laid it down, and got a chair for me and just let her nibble the plants and tree leaves for awhile. She would do that for a bit, then check in with me and blow on my face and lick my hands. Very sweet, but pretty introverted behaviour. Now I'm thinking about it, maybe it had something to do with the umbrella being there (or not). I was sitting pretty close to the tree, and asked her to squeeze between me and the trunk - just seeing how little it would take. Don't think I was clear enough the first time, there were a few questions.... I backed her up and tried again. Success! Then lots of licking me, my hands, my shirt, etc. I used to think this was very introverted, almost catatonic behaviour. Then I began to wonder if she was just killing time. Anyway, it went on for quite awhile and for some reason I didn't pay that much attention, and then decided to stand up. Wow! She just about jumped out of her skin! She was definitely somewhere else. Interesting!

Interspersed with a little play, I took some photos and we just generally hung out. We worked on some yo-yo and our draw seems to be better again. Stick to me was dull, maybe we were just too hot. I finished up playing around with the umbrella a bit. She was pretty good with it, and let me touch her from about the withers back and wanted to sniff it when I sort of swung it around her head. That was a good place to quit.

I was so glad that we spent that time together. The weekend was kind of hectic, and I didn't see enough of Iona. It was great to unwind together.