At my lesson with Martha yesterday, the intermittent problem that Lila has suffered in her hind end cropped up worse than ever. (She’s scheduled to see a new holistic vet on Tuesday morning.) So Martha put me on her Andalusian mare Maria for the second half of my lesson. (That’s the second time I’ve ridden her, and she’s always a great education.)

While riding Maria, I let Lila loose between the house and the ring, as Martha and I were quite certain that she’d do nothing but eat grass. Yet in fact, Lila decided to embark on a bit of an adventure. No, really!

After eating for a while, Lila headed down a lane between pastures to visit some of Martha’s horses… and then continued over the hill to places unknown.

After Lila disappeared over the hill, I grabbed her leadrope and headed off to find her, while still on Maria. From the top of the hill, I could see her about 1/4 mile away. She’d gone down the lane and then along a very back road (with zero traffic) to visit the neighbor’s horses. How very amiable of her!

Once I got to her, Lila was not eager to be caught — particularly not after Maria showed some ill temper toward her. Lila even lagged on the way back to Martha’s, stalling a bit through a difficult break in the fence. The whole enterprise took so long — about 20 minutes — that Martha came over the hill to find me… and even she was amazed by what Lila had done.

Happily, neither the horses nor the human was injured or traumatized… so it was just an adventure!