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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:

> Half the cost (or value) of a horse (or mule or donkey) is it's
> training.  A trained horse knows his business.  God only knows how
> many miles of furrow Duke has plowed in his day, and today when I
> needed him to step into the plowed area instead of staying beside the
> furrow on hte unplowed ground to finish out the edge of the field, he
> snorted and turned to look at me as if I were God's own fool and in
> his own way said "That's not right, that's not how it's done." 
> </HTML>

Thanks for all the equipment list..this is a keeper post for me.
Even after boarding horses here and taking care of my neighbors' horses,
I am still a bit nervous around horses I don't know well.  That bite
still is fresh in my memory after 9 years, and I am sure it will be
there still after 20.  I know Belgians are about as solid and gentle as
they come, and a well trained one wouldn't be Spooky(capitalized because
that is the name of the horse that bit me, almost removing my arm).  But
I have a good sense of caution around horses.
Today, I was finishing up in the garden and heard a noise that I
recognized immediately as the sound of horse hooves, so I looked around
expecting to see my best friend Ava on Dallas.  Ava had mentioned
bringing her boys, Dallas, Rebel, Joe, and Jack (a donkey) up to my
pasture, so naturally I thought it was Ava.  Upon first glance, I
noticed that there were several horses, and still, my mind was thinking
Ava..I then realized that the lead horse wasn't Rebel, it was a bay and
colored like Rebel, but not Rebel.  Finally I saw the paint and that
clued me in on what was happening.  Another 'neighbor's horses were
loose, and for some mysterious reason, they decided to visit me.  So I'm
in the garden with my dog, Bear (Awesome Aussie), who now also realizes
that these are different horses than the ones we have in the pasture
sometimes, and he, after a few barks, heads for the house on my command.
 His presence was spooking the horses.  They 'live' close to a mile
away, so they were having a nice little excursion....feeling their cheerios.
I called Ava for help..she knows these horses better than I do, and she
knows the owner, but Ava was over in Alabama today, so here I was trying
to herd/bribe/coax 3 very spooky and frisky horses into my pasture(which
by the way, has a busted fence from where we had to fell a tree over it
but I figured they would be safer there than eating the grass in my
front yard.  So anyway, I get a bucket and cut up some apples as a
treat/lure.  Recall, too, that I feel like crap-really need to be in the
bed instead of in the garden as I am still sick..but I'm walking along,
4 stranger horses following, and I start getting really nervous because
I really have no place to escape.  It was a similar situation when I was
bitten...multiple horses vying for attention, one goes to the other one
and accidentally bites me instead...so I am a bit freaked, which of
course, they pick up on and they are spooked,,,,so it is an endless
cycle.  I almost had them in the pasture when, of all times, a car drove
by and they took off like a bat out of hell heading for home.  Our road
sees maybe 5 cars a day, max, and one just happened by at the wrong time.
So anyway, James, I played with horses today, too.  I only knew one of
their names, but it seems they had better things to do on this Spring
day than eat apples inside a fence.  I'm a failed Good Samaritan.
As frustrating and time consuming as that was, I still marvel and am so
thankful that I live in a place where 3 horses can just galavant up
looking for trouble.
Oh, and I saw my first snake of the season today.  I think it was a baby
rattlesnake, but it could have been a baby pine snake.  I did not see a
rattle bud, and he was about to molt so his eyes were covered, but the
shape of the head and the nature of the body said Rattlesnake.  It was
only 8 inches long, but he was a fat little sucker...under a tire I
picked up..and people wonder why I wear a gun in Spring..and yes, he met
 the end of my hoe, then the rooster ate him.

Bev

--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky