Barn Stories
These are just some of the Good times we had in 2007, 2008 and NOW 2009. If it looks funny on your screen, try hitting F11 (function key at top of keyboard to full screen it. Then hit F11 again to return to normal mode.
The Horses’ Halloween Trick 2009
Born Free –As Free as the Wind Blows Boy – Last few days, That’s a lot of Freedom!!! AND NOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY
Around 6am, on this cold dark, windy Halloween morning, I’m heading down to the barn to feed, like I do every morning. Today however it feels spooky. The wind is howling through the trees and I would rather be in my warm bed but the horses must be fed. When suddenly I see bright glowing EYES to my right. Too low to be a horse, too high to be a cat and the dogs are still in the house Asleep. WHAT IS IT? Quickly I reach up to my cap and switch on my headlight, a necessary in these dark mornings. So what is it I’m seeing, Its… Its… C.C.!! Laying down in front of Pathfinders stall. Quite comfortable in the hay. What’s she doing there, I had to ask myself, and if one horse is out, where are all the rest? About that time I see movement in the barn where no horse is suppose to be. Jack and his sidekick, Cinch are in the hall of the barn where just the night before a round bale stood. Jack and Cinch looked quite happy, standing knee deep in what remained of a whole round bale, they had made it vanish, right before the eyes of the rest of the heard. The pasture gate stood open, the safety chain strangely undone. OK, I’d seen 3 horses, now where are the other 10? Quickly I grab a bale of hay and head into the pasture, not really expecting to find horses but you can’t help but hope. As if in slow motion, I start seeing movement and horse noses start appearing out of the dark around me. One by one, I start counting, of course, they don’t stand still and it is still as dark as it can get but I believe I have counted them all. They are all here and safe. Due to the wind, nobody tried to leave the barn very far or if they did, they came back. What a way to start out Halloween, with a big little scare. The horses played a trick and got a treat. Bet you didn’t know horses could do Trick or Treat.
How an 8 year old views the Lipizzaners.
I heard a real cute story, from a girl who’s only 8. She went to see the Lipizzaner in Wasilla and here is what she said.
“I got to see some beautiful horses from WWII. They did Ballet and danced around the floor. There were six girls and one boy but he didn’t do the ballet only the girls did. The horses were all white because they were old. Some times they danced in pairs and when the rider took off their hats, the horses bowed!!!”
I thought this was real cute about the Lipizzaner. Not quite the way I remembered the show but it was a good show and they did use all those words in the show, just not quite in that order!!!
Deb
APR Fool Joke on me by Pathfinder.
April 1, I decided it’s time to get out there and start my spring jogging. After all I have a physically fitness test for the Army in May I’d better start tuning up my body. Well, Pathfinder has an event on Mother’s day, the Parade of Stallions which he has to get tuned up for too, sooooo I decided that since I like a running partner, I’d take him jogging with me. (I tried to get him to do the pushups and sits ups but he preferred the hay eating exercise).
Six AM rolls around, I get all the horses fed and by 7am its light enough for Path, me, and the dogs (of course) to get out on the road and do our little jog. I figure to jog for about 25-30 minutes, cover a little over 2 miles with hills. I knew that wasn’t a very fast past but some of the hills are BIG (Especially if you are running up them instead of riding up them). So Path and I set off. He’s doing a nice little flat-walk behind me and the dogs are off doing their thing. We go down the road a mile or so and then come back. It was a cool morning, about 14 degrees but I figured it we kept moving, I’d stay warm enough and I was right. We made it back and I tie Path up to clean his feet and brush him. I run into the tack room, grab the hoof pick and started with his right front foot. Now Path is very well manner horse and I never have any problem cleaning his feet. So when he leaned on me kind of heavy and started lifting his left rear foot I was surprised. I put his foot down before he fell and then received another shock, Pathfinder was Shivering!!!! All Over. I guest he was saying my run was too slow; he was cold when we quit. Now it’s pretty bad when you run so slow your partner gets cold!!!
I put a wool blanket and then a nylon winter blanket on Path and he warmed up nicely. When I went to remove them about an hour later, he was almost sweating under it. Just shows, you never know about horses. Why would he got cold I don’t know but he sure was miserable for a few minutes until I got the blanket on him. So that was his April Fool Joke, She said I need to run faster!!! to get his blood flowing
Subject: Had to share!
A bay is hardy, a chestnut is fast, and you can’t kill a buckskin: he’ll last and last.
A grey is gentle, and a sorrel is hot. A dun is a horse you’ll be happy you bought.
White-eyes are flighty, white feet may crack. While some won’t rely on the feet of a black.
Some pintos are lucky, like the medicine hat, but all horsemen agree the best color is fat.
“Are we Horses or Are we Clowns”
Sometimes I believe that I am taking care of a bunch of clowns. First I have the little clown, Sidney. She thinks riding in the hay sled if fun. Maybe she believes she’s helping by putting her front feet in and pushing with her back. Picture this little horse with her front feet braced, her tail up and pushing away. Now I did get the feeling she was trying to direct the hay away from the herd and possible into a spot only she could get to. One time I must have been pulling the sled too fast for her so she ran up right behind me, in front of the sled, picks up her right front foot really high and slams it into the sled. I wasn’t sure if she was after me or what but then I saw Sidney was using her hoof like a hook and pulling the sled back to her. Sidney sometimes is like a bad neighborhood dog.
Another thing the little clown does is get into the trash and spreads it everywhere. Plastic bags don’t scare her. They should all be pulled out of the garbage cans and used to chase the other horses around. Especially Cinch. Sidney discovered how to make Cinch leave! Just try and put him in a garbage bag.
Today I was out petting the horses and could tell some of them wanted grooming. SO I went and got a curry comb for they had a little snow and ice on their backs. I would pet/groom one and another horse would line up behind it or behind me so I could just turn around and start brushing. Sometimes they would remind me of the mafia by their tactics. When one horse was sure I wasn’t looking, they would reach out and bit the horse in front of them so that horse would loose his place in line. Then if I looked at the bitter, ears would come forward and you could see the question on their face, WHAT? “You going to brush me now?” Of course the bitten horse would look all discussed and go get in line again. Now one horse, Bandit, has his own tactics. I was brushing his right side, and then I turned around to brush Cinch’s left side as he was standing behind me. Bandit must have figured he wasn’t done yet so he walks up behind Cinch, pushes his butt into Cinch and lefts a leg to threaten him. Cinch moves and Bandit takes up his position to get his left side done. After I finished that side he was content and wondered off to nibble on some hay.
Oh yea, its still cold here. I ran outside to take a few pictures and when I got back in and pulled off my shoes, I could see frost or snow on my toes!!! Good thing I had my heaters on. ( Or course I was wearing my tennis shows for this short excursion). Guest this is why we need to always keep winter boots with us even is we are wearing dress shoes , tennis shoes and riding boots are my dress shoes.
Horses make their own bed
Some horses are really spoiled. My get their own bed of hay to sleep in. Sometimes I find 3 or 4 horses laying down on this old round bale. I was afraid the bale wasn’t the best for feeding so I decided to put it out without a round bale ring around it. Well the horses loved it. In 3 days they had it down to the round, eat some of it and spread the rest out for a bed. Some would just go over the bale and roll around while other stretched out on their sides and took a great nap. OF course other thought it was a good spot to poop but not too much poop was left there. I’m thinking around moving some of this old hay into the barn so the horses can enjoy it even after it snows today.
Pathfinder is ready for everything. He’s one happy horse as long as the other boys get away from his herd. On Sunday, I had Path out in his pasture. Now he’s not a hard horse to keep in. He doesn’t jump fences but he will duck under if given the chance. But I decided to let him out of his pen so he could stand on his hill and watch the other horses in the pasture in front of the barns. He really enjoys being on the hill and watching over the heard. I was keeping a close eye on him and could see him most of the time. Around 1pm, the herd started running, bucking and having fun around the front of the barn. I was standing in the house watching. Path was standing at the fence watching. I see him turn and walk away but I don’t think anything of it. He does have about an acre to roam and likes to move around.