|
Oh Michelle... the things that we forgot to tell you!
One of my favorites was a new brood mare I bought and brought
home. She pastured w/the other mares nicely - I didn't know
much about her but the owners assured me she was 'fine'.
I picked her up on Saturday and the weekend went smoothly. I
went to work Monday happy they were all together and 'fine'.
I came home Monday afternoon and walked to the pasture fence
to find my old faithfuls grazing quietly - but no Polly. I
looked and looked (in my work clothes/shoes/on a typical spring
muddy day in Maine)... no Polly. I was really getting worked
up and went to the barn to get a halter and go look for her.
Well.. I didn't have to look far, she was in the tie stall kinda
looking forlorne and anoyed. I said "whew... " and then "well,
now we know she ties!"
Later that evening a neighbor stopped by and said "Your horse was
out front eating your lawn this morning and seemed to be happy I
stopped to talk to her... when I realized she was loose I put her
in the 'bahn"
I thanked him and considered myself fortunate to have neighbors
who would do that.....
smiles - holly
|
| Other things to expect:
1) horses love to jump fences. No matter whether or not they can/will
do this feat nicely with you on their backs over a hunter course.
They find it much more entertaining to demonstrate their skills
in the pre-dawn hours of your major presentation.
2) horses have wonderful internal clocks. They have no concern for
your desire to sleep a little late on weekends. And they have
very loud voices. This, combined with an uncanny ability to swing
a bucket against the barn wall with incredible force, will guarantee
you see many a brilliant sunrise.
3) horses are herd animals. My gelding will herd anyone, anything, to
include my dog, my cats, my mare, and my neighbors daughter.
4) horses bore easily. When bored, they make up ways to entertain
themselves. Unfortuneatly, most of what they invent will *not*
entertain you. Stock up on hammers, nails, wheelbarrows, buckets,
hoof picks, hats, and your sense of humor.
5) horses love to lose shoes. Or perhaps they love farriers. Perhaps
both. No matter, they will lose a shoe the day immediately following
the farrier's visit. And they are *remarkably* talented at hiding
this lost shoe, only to get bored with this particular game about
a week later. At this point, they are quite happy to make the shoe
reappear right under your nose.
6) horses hate baths, crossing steams, and cold. Yet they love standing
outside an open barn door in the freezing rain.
8) horses know the sound of your car/truck. And will nicker lovingly
whenever they hear you drive in. Unless they see the horse trailer
attached.
9) horses will perform consistently well in the ring at home to the
point when you decide they are doing so well why not show off a
little? So you invite a few horsie friends over to show off your
new skills. This will be the day they decide they have no idea
what you are asking, learn that they are capable of bucking,
and demonstrate nothing more to your friends than how quickly they
can stop on a dime.
|
|
Horses only think the grass looks greener on the other side of the
fence at 10:00 at night, leading for a chase through the woods and
across neighbor's back yards....Also, they are not so dumb as to
not be able to figure out how to unlatch a stall door or paddock gate,
usually when you are not home, or again, at 10:00 at night......
|
|
My 11 year old Quarter Horse loves to break out and peek in the
windows untill someone spots him. When he knows your comming he bolts
back to his paddock and looks at you as though he's done nothing
wrong!. This past summer I caught him looking in the front bay window,
I went out the front door to put him back and he runs around the side
of the house. I went back in and out the back door only to find him
peeking around the corner between the house and the fence. As soon as
he knew I was looking he backed up so I couldn't see him. I headed out
to his paddock then he came running out trying to get there first and
he beat me, again!!!.
Tom.
|
| We have 3 mares and a gelding in the pasture together, All of sudden
there was a cloud of dust and the beating of hoofs, I looked up in time
to see a mad chace of " I have the plastic bag and you dont" The
gelding was running in front of the mares with a plastic bag in his
mouth, as they came closer to the fence the mares turned a circle, not
the gelding , he was so worried about losing his pride catch that he
never even tried to slow down, he hit the fence, flipped over into the
next door neighbors yard, got up with a small scratch on his nose....
and the plastic bag still in his mouth. He just kinda looked around
like " I had that all planned" His new nickname is "FLIP"
|