Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 100th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 100th LESSON

I rode Flossie an hour earlier than usual and it made a difference to her psyche. Of course
everything appeared enchanted what with the heavy dew sparkling in the treetops and all over
the paddock not to mention it gave the weeds that grow on the side of the hill that's
located between the track and the road a bright white covering. Flossie just had to balk
when she saw it. From both directions. But only on the first go-around; after that, albeit
she let me know via body language she still had her eye on the spooky weeds, she went right
past and the gait we were doing at the time didn't make a bit of difference to her
stride.

I had her doing circles in the paddock before I took her to the track. It was a nice
warm-up, so by the time we were ready to run the track, I didn't have to think about
where to start her up; she was ready from the start! We did some nice work at every gait.
Her walk was a bit faster than it's been lately and I was glad to see that. Other than
the balking, she was a dream. When I took the bridle off, I noticed her bit was slathered
all over which is always a good sign!

After our ride and our ubiquitous walk around the track to cool off whether she needs it or
not, and after all the horses got their share of the carrots I brought along, I had a chance
to talk to Des. He was walking to his car when I stopped him to say hello. He's
walking so much better now! He said the doctor told him his leg is as good as new and the
other leg that he was considering for surgery in another three months or so is coming good
now. The doctor told him to keep an eye on it. His next appointment is in November and if
the leg is still doing well, he probably won't have to have surgery after all.

Des has lost some weight, too, since the last time I saw him. However, he confessed he
started drinking again and according to him, he was even slimmer before that. He says
he's not going to get back into the alcohol the way he used to, but that remains to be
seen.

The doctor told him to keep walking; that's the best thing he can do for himself, so
he's been doing that. He'll even go to the mall and walk around just to keep
moving. I hope he continues to walk even when the weather goes back to its hot and muggy
self again once winter ends.

BamBam is now eating carrots and seems to like them as much as Blaze does. He came up to me
when the rest of the herd did when I was handing them out. So now I have five extra horses
to feed every week! I told Des that his colt is eating carrots now and he said he'll
have to start buying them for him.

After Des left, I took a walk down the track and saw Blaze grazing in the tall weeds on the
other side of the fence. I was hoping it was only an optical illusion, but as I got nearer
I could see the colt had busted through the fence, tearing down the barrier wires as well as
the barbed wire that runs along Des' property. He was standing up to his chin in
ungrazed territory, enjoying his freedom, as well as the newfound groceries, and refusing to
come back into the paddock no matter how much I tried to coax him.

How am I ever going to get him out of there, I wondered. Des wasn't home. The
colt's not halter-broke yet so I new a halter would be useless to me. If I tried to go
in and get around him I knew it would have only encouraged him to move away from me, taking
him further away from the paddock, and deeper into unknown territory, so I didn't want
to do that. I finally decided the only way to get him to listen would be to drag his mother
over. I thought maybe if he saw her he'd want to come back or she'd be able to call
him back into the paddock somehow.

As it turned out, Flossie was in the yard. She heard me talking to the colt and decided to
come over to see what was going on. Great. This was one of my biggest fears; if all the
horses came over to investigate, they'd all want to join the colt. Then I'd have
five horses to deal with. So, as Flossie got closer, I tried to block her way. It
didn't work; she got past me anyway. I thought for sure I would soon have two escapees
on my hands.

I needn't have worried, however. Flossie trotted up the track and stopped directly
across from Blaze. She didn't leave the track; she just stopped dead and faced the
colt. By Blaze's reaction, Flossie's presence made a giant impact on the horse. In
fact it made the impact I had been trying so hard to make only moments before to no avail.
The colt tried to come back into the paddock, but the top wire, which was still intact,
stopped him. I went over and lifted it up for him. He ducked underneath and in very slow
motion picked his feet up one at a time over the barbed wire fence that was still on the
ground and came back into the paddock without a scratch. The he joined Flossie and the two
of them went running off towards the dam. Now don't tell me I wasn't relieved!

I tied some of the loose wires up and propped some posts against them, knowing it would give
very easily if a horse moved against it, but it was the best I could do under the
circumstance. When Des came back, I took him over to the fence and told him what happened.
I was just glad I was there to see it and that Flossie had come by when she did. Des tried
to tighten up the fence but said it'll have to wait until tomorrow before he can fix it
properly.

Later, when I was sitting on the ground in the paddock enjoying the nearness of the animals
that I love so much, BamBam sauntered over and sniffed my head, ears, neck, for the longest
time. Both colts allow me to rub them nearly all over now. I feel as though I've been
accepted as just one of the herd. It's a great privilege to be an honorary horse once a
week!

This has gone on and on so I better drop you off here. Thanks for coming along for the
ride. I appreciate your company and it did me some good to tell my story about
Flossie's notable 100th (count 'em!) lesson.

Aussie ya next time. I hope all your horse stories, too, have happy endings.

Ooroo,