Hangin' with the Guys

Another quiet afternoon at work and I was itching for a reason to get out of the house for a bit. I hadn't seen the guys in a few days, so I thought this might be a good night to hang with the boys.

I didn't bother to call first--I knew right where they'd be. Just outside of Madison there's a little place we all know: The Round Pen. I knew they'd be there if I made the drive, and I was right.

Jack saw my car as I drove in to park and tossed his head in a greeting while Julian, as usual, stayed back with the other studs of the neighborhood, shooting the shit. Typical of him to wait that extra minute before acknowledging my arrival.

Julian's a big guy--always has been--and people find it hard to believe he's as sensitive as he is. Still, I have learned the hard way from my old friend that to open a dialogue with Jack before going over to slap Julian on the ass--regardless of whether Jack had already started heading in my direction--was a sure way to bruise this guy's fragile ego. This was not a guy you wanted to piss off, sensitive or no. No need to give Jules a reason to take out his social frustrations on Jack after I'd gone home for the night. Jack and Jules are tight, but Jules has nearly a foot on his companion and that indisputable power differential has always managed to worm its way into the dynamics of their relationship.

Salutations successfully completed, the three of us found our own space to occupy and soon busied ourselves regaling each other with tales of the week so far. Just outside The Round Pen, nearly oblivious to our presence, a cottontail munched contentedly on the natural clover growing in abundance there. Occasionally he'd stop chewing and watch us in typical rabbit silence. I couldn't tell if he was thinking of moving on or joining us. As the evening played itself out, he did neither.

I really only planned to stop in for a while, but the evening was cooler than I had anticipated, and the rains had yet to move in, all of which made it hard to leave. And though Jack was up to his usual antics, Julian was in an unusually passive mood, and the urge to take advantage of that overcame me. I had already curried and combed both fellas head to tail and still they clung to me instead of joining the rabbit as I expected. Working the lunge line through Julian's halter, I tied it in a large and unwieldy knot above his neck. Before he had time to object, I led him quietly to the side of the round pen, climbed three or four rails, and slid onto his back.

Like I said earlier, I didn't come out to ride. I was wearing shorts, tennies and a baseball cap, and lately riding has been more stressful than not, so I had left it off the plate entirely for the evening. Yet there I was, sitting bareback on my Percheron with my pony looking up at me wondering if he was next (he wasn't).

It made for a perfect evening. For probably thirty minutes Jules and I wandered around the round pen, always shadowed by Jack who took to grabbing at my shoelaces or nipping at Julian's large backside. We even got some "work" in, practicing some halts and turns. Julian was thrown by not being fully tacked, and behaved almost as if he were. I don't know that that would have held true in the larger pasture, but I wasn't about to risk that. Instead, we just ambled together, the three of us, in the cool of the evening with Peter Cottontail. Julian would stop occasionally to graze, but since riding lately always meant work for him, he mostly kept things moving, but always at a respectable pace. It was the most damn relaxing thing I have done in weeks, if not months. I tried to freeze the moment and, hopefully, I have succeeded. And even if we never have another evening like the one we just had, I will treasure it always. As far as I'm concerned, I finally experienced the perfect date.