To understand this story you need to know that the entire
property where my horse lives is fenced in except for the driveway, and the driveway can be closed off by tying a rope between the hay shed and
the corner fence post. Because JT's paddock has lots
of lovely pine trees it has very little grass, Traci (the BO) will often let
him out on the yard so he can graze. He is a good boy who prefers to
stay near the other horses and doesn't test
fences or try to jump over them so this works fine.
Last Friday
the farrier was scheduled to come out in the evening to trim JT and put on new
shoes. It had been several weeks since her horse was last trimmed
so Traci was going to piggyback on my appointment and have the farrier trim
her mare Tori as well. (She's unhappy with her farrier's attitude/behavior the past two times he came out, so she is "in between" farriers and has been
trying out other people.) She decided to use up some of Tori's energy
by taking her out on a trail ride so she would be more tired and
wouldn't mind standing around for the farrier. JT was out on the yard and Traci figured that when she left through the back gate JT would go find the other horse boarded there and eat grass near him.
Well,
she underestimated how much JT loves her mare because when the two of
them left for their trail ride JT started running the fence line in the
woodsy part of the yard. He found a hole in the fence that Traci didn't know was there, and although she hollered at him to WHOA! he
didn't listen and slipped through! Then he came galloping up to them
with an incredibly proud look on his face. Because the acreage where we
trail ride is all fenced in Traci decided to let him follow along and see
how that went. He followed along with them the whole time like a
horse-sized puppy dog! Sometimes he'd go off to the side and check out
something that interested him but he'd catch up to them again after a
moment or two. When they trotted he trotted and when they cantered he
cantered.
My horse is such a stinker! I cracked up when Traci told me the story. I think if he wore his breakaway halter and she took a lead rope (just in case) he could tag along with her on a trail
ride again. It seems to be a good way for him to get some added
exercise.
