Horse Hijinks
Thoughts Why Animals Wait Until You Are Gone To Get Into Mischief
The Culprit-Kula
My horses are the most sedate, boring in behavior steeds. Winter is especially taxing for them, as they stand around eating all of the hay they can hold, whilst enjoying the horrid abuse of twice daily grain rations and heated water. Truly, life on my plantation is just terrible for an equine. This point seems even more obvious as they exhibit the awfulness of their lives by NEVER trying to escape.
Grandma Angel-She supervised the escape with detached disdain
However, it appears there is a way to motivate my lazy nags; I just have to drive six hours from my home for the weekend. Escape guaranteed! We had just left our hotel and were flying down the banks of the Columbia Gorge when I received this text from my neighbor:
"Hey, we are all outside and noticed that the horses got out of their pen. Is that okay?"
Ugh. I was like t-minus 5 hours from being able to accurately assess that situation. I mean, my old grey horse, Angel, I could just let roam around the place like a dog. She wouldn't go anywhere, and the very few times she has got out, my old mare comes to my bedroom window and stares in it's glass depths until she spies my form. As I tried to talk my neighbor through returning my naughty creatures to their pen, I was simultaneously pondering how the heck they made their escape, and a thought came to mind: The gelding.
My gelding, Kula, is a bit of a clown. One night when we came home from the movies with some friends he let me know that I hadn't fed him according to his time table. He was sitting in the field fencing like it was a hammock chair, all 1100lbs kicked back and chilling. My friends still tease me about that clown. I had a strong feeling that he was at the root of the Great Escape.
I was able to talk my neighbor through returning the escapees to their paddock, but a couple hours later she texted that they had bolted again. Grrr....Naughty ponies! She texted a few minutes later saying she had returned them, but I just knew that Kula would have the girls in the yard again when I got home.
Sure enough, when we rolled down the driveway my horses ran to greet us. It was really exciting to have Kula and Gemma jump in front of the car in a welcome home dance. My husband got out and yelled and gestured something very R rated at all of them, but honestly, I don't know why he yelled at Grandma Angel, for she had this sedate, resigned look on her face that basically communicated, "I only got out to keep an eye on these two idiots."
Gemma-The new girl, I think Kula was just showing off for her.
We quickly found the source of the escape, one of the horses (Kula, I'm sure) had removed the wire holding the gate latch. I find it ironic that he waited to do this until we were gone, but I have a feeling that it was his way of letting us know that he missed us. That or he really, really wanted to present us with a welcome home parade. I sort of feel like my husband was so annoyed that he would have welcomed Kula into the freezer....Yikes!
There is a huge amount of thankfulness residing in my form right now for my awesome neighbors!
And as always, all of the images in this post were taken on my alfalfa hay scrap covered iPhone.
nice post :)
xD
Awe, Thank you! Nice GIF! 😊
That's so funny! Thats a smart horse to figure out how to escape. Last time I went on a trip our 5 cats were locked safely in the house. When we got home all the cats were outside. They figured out how to escape by opening a flap in the window that seals up the air conditioner.
Lol! Reverse cat burglars! You could hire them out for a fee as "house integrity consultants!"
Your cats sound excellent, bet they keep you on your paws😂!
Yes they do. I bet you're horses are awesome. I love a pet that keeps life interesting.
Clever ponies! I really enjoyed that story.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the tale! A life with animals is never dull, that's for sure!
That's the truth. My mom's Arabian would crawl on her knees under the hotwire to get to the avocado orchard.
Ha ha! I understand such devotion to the lovely ambrosia that is the avocado. That said, I would have so paid to see your mom's horse do that, lol!
Good post and beautiful photos)) Thanks))
Thank you! 😊
You definitely have some wily ponies. Particularly when they wait for you to leave, before escaping. I suppose it IS less fun in 'getting away with it', when you are home. They gotta cause some excitement somehow.
Love the fact that Angel comes to your window, to check on what you are up to. That is one smart, devoted horse. Sounds more like a dog than a horse.
Thanks for sharing some more wild shenanigans on the farm that is home. Sounds like never a dull moment, that's for sure.. (You have reminded me of a monkey escape story I should write about some time. So much to write about, so little time.) Thanks so much for another great story and read. Amazing how you keep them coming, day in and day out.
Angel is a pretty special old girl, she came with the farm so to speak. My husband paid the previous owner's of our place daughter's cell phone bill and they gave us an abused, un-trusting mare. She was so traumatized that if you walked into the field with a lead rope she would run through the nearest fence. It took awhile, but she knows we care about her. She is more dog like at this point:)!
Oh! I am so excited for the monkey story! That sounds beyond interesting. Life is definitely never dull, and I also have a rather big mouth, er typing finger verbal vomit? Well, that probably didn't translate well, but to be fair, I have worked like crazy all day getting ready for my next adventure that starts Wednesday! San Diego time!
Oh, that's right, you are headed to the Big City to the West. That should be loads of fun. Try to not get into TOO much trouble...just the right amount will do ( :
The monkey story is just something I heard at the zoo, but it IS fascinating, and I will try to figure out how to work it into a story about something or other. THAT should keep you on the edge of the old typing chair.
Love too that you have a big old dog, acting like a horse. So very nice of you to take such good care of them and getting them to love you so. I have a cat, Kiwi like that. One day the wind blew too strong, and he disappeared for days. The black cat Pantera had to go find him. Such a lovable knotthead.
Are you driving or flying to the West? Well, have a good night, and don't work too hard. Ta'