The horses are out!

There is nothing that inspires fear and action in a horse lover like those four words, "the horses are out."  This morning as we were all just starting to wake, I got that dreaded call and I have never seen a house react the way we did.  Faster the the word "fire" we were dressed and out the door, on the way to the barn.  The barn being 10 minutes away, it took everything in our power not to speed.  The horses being out on a quiet country road is one thing.  But the barn we board at is boarded on one side by busy highway 14 and the other by a railroad track and the town of Eyota.  I was a nervous wreck.

Tim being new to horses getting out, thankfully that has not happened in the past couple of years, did not know what we needed to do.  He suggested a bucket of grain, which wasn't a bad idea, but we went with halters.  The horses apparently had enough of their walkabout and were literally in the back yard of the house behind where they got out.  We pulled as close as we dared without spooking them, got out and started walking their way.  I said something along the lines of "China" and the three of them immediately came out from behind the house and trotted up to us. 

All the way up to us I'm going to admit I assumed they were going to dash by us and run for the hills.  Instead the three of them; Sully, China and Joker, ran right up to us and waited to be haltered.  I was so thankful they were such "good" horses.  Although the truly "good" horse was Peach as she stayed where she belonged.  Then what to do.  We didn't want to lead them back over the damaged fence.  We didn't want to lead them along highway 14.  That meant option C - lead them along the railroad tracks back to the main gate.  Which meant leading a two 3 year olds and a yearling over a railroad bridge, complete with the loose boards and sketchy creaking and gaps between the railroad ties, etc...  I did not think China would step one foot on there after hating the bridge in Forestville.  But with just a little coaxing she climbed right on and the other two followed right behind. 

Off we went along the tracks and back into their pasture.  All in all I was so happy with them.  I was proud of them being easy to catch, willing to walk across the scary bridge and cross country back to their pasture.  Despite being incredibly annoyed with them for getting out in the first place, they kind of redeemed themselves.  Until tonight. 

You see we made a mad dash to Rochester for fencing materials and spent a good part of the morning fixing fence.  And we thought we fixed all the spots that may have been a problem.  That new forcefield, aka, fenceline was so shiny and new and tight.  Only horse people know the satisfaction a shiny new fenceline brings.  I could have admired that fenceline for hours if it weren’t so darn cold.  We left them to their hay feeling confident.  It wasn’t until I was sitting down to supper and got that same damn call that I lost that confidence.  

We arrived in the pitch dark to find Sully and Joker standing peaceably beside our neighbors who had a rope looped over Joker’s neck and were just petting on Sully.  China, being the big naughty cow she is, was too big to fit through the new gap in the fence.  She paced the fenceline in annoyance.  Sully and Joker were haltered again and made the same trek across the same bridge, this time in the pitch dark, and back in they went. 

Then we got to fix more fence, again.  But this time in the pitch dark by the light of the Traverse headlights.  So we have fixed the fence, again.  And now we cross our fingers and hope the little buttholes quit playing hookey and park their butts at the round bale feeder like normal horses would.  

And hey- bridges shouldn’t be a problem from here on out.