thank you kind driver....

It was an amazing fall afternoon, so after a morning of dog training, it was time to get Tonka back into harness and do some "driving" with him.... I can't believe it's Friday and this is the first time I have had him out all week. We "drove" around the field for a bit and since it was all looking so good, we headed out to the road. A few cars passed us... no big deal. Then I saw an oil truck pulling onto the road... Oh well, I thought, we got to learn to pass these things as well. The truck noticed us right away and slowed down, approaching us with respect and caution... Tonka plodded along... "this looks good", I thought... and then all of a sudden, he jumps into the center of the road (sort of in front of the truck) and begins to pitch a fit!!!! Surprisingly, I was not one bit nervous, and just kept talking to him calmly and asking him to get back to work. He began to settle down, when the truck (due to the way it works) let out a sharp "hiss" of air, and that was that. Tonka was no way... about to co-operate. So, I walked him into our neighbor's back yard, just to get him off the street, and give him a minute to pull his head together. The truck, seeing a good opportunity to get out of our way, passed quickly. It took me a few minutes to pull Tonka back together, and then we were back on the street, and working again. He was still a bit jumpy, but at least he was listening, and I was pretty happy to be on foot behind him and not in a cart!!!! We "played" along the road for a while and then headed back home. Guess I found out a weak spot in our training, and that means... more road work for sure. But I am very grateful to a smart and kind driver, and though I doubt I will ever know "who he was"... may I say thank you for helping me out with my horse!!!!