Cinnamon balked! She did not want to get into the trailer! She evaded the door, put her front feet in, then backed out again and when I tapped her on the rump with a whip, she threatened to run me over while dashing — in a circle — between me and the trailer. I disciplined her for that, but she did it twice more. Cinnamon put her front feet in again, then backed out a second time. I praised her for going toward the trailer and tapped her on the rump with the whip for going backward. After several minutes, she remembered that I always win these arguments and climbed into the trailer. Once inside, she stepped sideways so she was standing at an angle in the trailer and looked over her right shoulder at me as if to say, “what are you going to do about this?”  I just closed the door, went around and pulled her lead rope up into the trailer manger and then clipped the trailer tie to her halter. Cinnamon discovered that I’d removed the center divider so she could stand at an angle in the trailer — she had been losing her balance and scrambling with the divider which was forcing her to stand straight. After the difficult loading, Cinnamon rode perfectly on the trip up to the Panorama Trail.

 At the trailhead Cinnamon unloaded with no problems and then looked around. She’d been there before so she recognized where we were.  I removed her shipping boots, brushed her and saddled her up. It was already the middle of the afternoon, so we only had time to do the short loop before dark. When we were ready to go, Cinnamon set off down the trail at a brisk walk. At marker Panorama 2 (P2) we turned right onto the loop trail, went as far as the short cut trail and then took a left to go clockwise around the short loop.

 We had the trail to ourselves as we strolled along enjoying the warm, sunny weather. When the shortcut met Panorama’s main loop trail again — after marker P12 — we turned right and followed the trail as it wound through the forest and began climbing up the side of the mountain.  We were just starting up the steeper segment of the trail when Cinnamon suddenly stopped and alerted me to something up slope. I followed her gaze and saw a flock of turkeys sneaking uphill through the oak thickets.  We continued up the trail another 15 feet and Cinnamon stopped again to watch a turkey fly a short distance uphill. We continued watching as another turkey ran past us and two just walked by slowly. I couldn’t count how many birds there were. I didn’t photograph them because my camera couldn’t differentiate the turkeys from the trees. The turkeys didn’t seem to notice us at all.

 Cinnamon and I continued up the trail, which is steep enough to get her slightly winded even though we were just walking. When the trail leveled out and she caught her breath, I asked Cinnamon to running-walk a short distance.  The trail merges into a logging road with a slight ascent that looked like a nice place to lope so we did — first on the right lead following a right turn in the trail — then on the left lead following a slight left turn in the trail. The left lead is always harder for Cinnamon, but she gave me a very nice lope and earned a horse cookie for her efforts.  We slowed to a walk while still on the logging road.

 Cinnamon suddenly stopped and alerted me to something on the slope to our left. I looked in the direction she indicated, but couldn’t see what she was watching. I asked her to continue and she went a few feet but abruptly stopped again to stare at whatever it was that I still couldn’t see. After a minute or so of searching we followed the trail around the sharp right turn, leaving whatever it was behind us and resumed climbing across the face of the mountain. This portion of the trail gave us the most panoramic views on the short loop so I trusted Cinnamon to mind her footing while I admired and photographed the scenery. We followed the trail to the left around the shoulder of the mountain where it offers a fine view of the east side of Porter Mountain before winding back down into the trees.

 We were around marker P5 when Cinnamon spotted some hikers in front of us. The two men got off the trail as we approached and called their small dog, who was off leash.  I greeted them and one of them reported a wolf had followed them. I thought it was more likely that it was a coyote, but their dog was the only canine I’d seen so I didn’t challenge their assertion. However, Cinnamon had stopped twice to look at something on the other side of the mountain.

 After passing the hikers Cinnamon and I again had the trail to ourselves as we strolled the rest of the way back to the trailhead.  I unsaddled then groomed Cinnamon, and put on her shipping boots. This time she loaded promptly. She rode nicely in the trailer and unloaded perfectly at home. I fed the horses their supper but left the trailer hitched — I had planned on taking both horses on another trail the next day.