It was yet another long day at work but I managed to get it done in time so that even after driving home I still had enough daylight to go on the daily evening walk with 'Mr F'. We are still blessed with dry weather and only a little rain in between. Hopefully it continues like this, at least while I am without stable for 'Mr F'.
I have invested in a laptop so that in winter I can go and sit with him in the stable for a little in the evenings. Quite often I used to take my paperwork into the field where they were grazing, working in the presence of these animals is very relaxing and 'eye opening'. The fresh air, the views, the sound of the birds, the humming of all that buzzes and the rhythmic chewing all contribute to a peaceful environment which seems to be full of ideas.
The more I spend time with 'Mr F' the more we trust one another. I guess it is a case of just 'knowing' ... sometimes the 'barrier' of human / horse is just a physical one. People think of me as odd for saying these things but it is what I withenss and observe.
And today I had great proof of just how much 'Mr F' trusts ...
As I got home I went to fill my thermos flask with tea, got changed, said hello to the 'Maggies' (housemate) dogs and went up to the field to get 'Mr F'.
I saw him on the otherside of the little stream, lazily grazing in the later afternoon autumn sunlight. Not wanting to loose daylight time I called him as I walked up. As usual, his head turns upon hearing my voice, trying to figure out where I am and what I might be wearing. (yes, he knows, if i turn up with hi-vis stuff it always means 'we go out'.) Once he saw me he made his way over to me.
But he had a little surprise in store: as he slowly (very slowly!) made his way down the slope and over the towards the short bridge that leads over the bigger of the two streams in there, he stops and looks at me again. I call him once more, somewhat hoping he'd hurry up a little.
He made a few more slow strides, then looked at the ground in front of him 'what is he doing now?' I thought. Then he suddenly made a huge jump (way to exagerated!) over the 2nd much narrower stream (I can easily step accross it) and came cantering up to me! This was a surprise as he has made such a fuss about jumping over this tiny stream!
He looked so pure when he came running up, the golden late autumn afternoon sunlight was highlighting his entire body in a play of shadows, animated by the movement of his muscles. It was a sight to behold! These are moments of pure bliss, nothing else. Just standing there, witnessing this beautiful being move.
'Mr F' seemed VERY pleased with himself when he arrived. He ran right up to me and stopped dead at arms length. We greet each other by our noses ... something I noticed them do all the time when they meet each other or return back into the pasture. It's their way of 'shaking' hands but with much more information. I have said this before somewhere here in this blog next time you go see your horse, don't straight go for the touching ... greet it like they greet each other, by exhaling air out of your nostrils, gently, just as they do. When I did this the first time they seemed a bit surprised but ever since I do this even with horses I don't know although there I am of course careful because not all may like 'me' as being, just as they not always see eye to eye for reasons known only to them.
Very keen on going out of course 'Mr F' as usual holds down his head so that I can easily put the head collar on. Bear in mind I am only 5 feet and he is some 16+ hands he has to lower his head quite a bit.
That is something I am quite keen on all horses doing that I deal with. To me it means that they are relaxed (otherwise their heads will remain straight up just like they do when they see something that bewilders them) and willing to be handled by me.
And so off we went on our evening stroll. As always, we meet various people, some in their cars, all waving and smiling at 'Mr F'.
The sun had began to set behind the hills and it was time to return.
Back at the house - which is opposite and at the bottom end of their field, with the main road in between - I loosely tied 'Mr F' to a piece of baler twine that was attached to a quite old log store. However, to stop the dogs from jumping out there was a make-do gate - a wonky wooden frame with chicken wire spun accross it. The baler twine was going through the chicken wire of this make-do gate and then attached to that afore mentioned log store. There is a reason why I am explaining this in detail ...
I made 'Mr F's food while he was patiently waiting on the drive and outside the entrance to the small garden, all of about 15 meters from the quite busy main road.
It was time for hoof maintenance so I while he was busy eating I dealt with his feet. All went fine as usual, then i want to work on the front feet. I picked up his left front foot to clean it.
Unfortunately, 'Mr F' does have the enoying habbit of sometimes 'snatching' it away and he did so today. I waited until he had his legs sorted out again proberly (as in: him being squared up) and proceeded to continue with that one leg I had started working on. Suddenly he began fidgeting, something he never does when I work on his feet ... 'what is the matte ....' and at that moment I saw that somehow he managed to get the long lead rope behind his other front foot but by now the rope was taut and 'Mr F' in mild panic continued to reverse of all things!
Suddenly there was a 'crack!' Then something hit me on the head and back followed by the clattering sound old dry wood hitting the tarmac.
The wonky gate was now stuck to the rope and 'Mr F' was trying to get away from it but of course couldn't. It all happened so fast, all I saw what the long lead rope dissapearing in front of me like the loose chain of a heavy anker that is being thrown over board of a ship in a strom. I just managed to grab the end bit of it and so hoping that he wouldn't run into the road in panic!
"Stop. Stop!" I called out, trying everything to stay calm while my heart was pounding. Then suddenly, 'Mr F' stood still, as I had asked him. He realised that he couldn't sort this out and that he had to wait for me but he was NOT happy about this 'neglect' of things and made quite sure to express this by the look on his face; he does tell stories with his expressions and this one was the story of 'oh this human, doesn't she know better than to expose me to this.'
While proceeding to calm him down I realised that he actually was quite calm by now and that it was I that needed to settle, my heartrate must have trippled by the thought of him reversing backwards into the road, dragging that wonky gate behind him while at the same time trying to escape from it.
'Mr F' watched me while I was clearing up the aftermath of this little event. I showed him everything, the broken off part of the wood which still had the baler twine attached and the wonky gate which was surprisingly still intact. There was a bit of snorting about the gate but quickly 'Mr F' deemed it to be safe now that it was no longer attached to his lead rope.
I continued with the hoof care and all was quite clam, although 'Mr F' was eyeing me up just in case I expose him to yet something else carelessly! After letting him eat a little more grass I lead him up to the others. As mostly the case, after 'Mr F' has had a little snooze with his head near mine he then wanders off with 'Kitten'. That is the opportunity for 'Tolka' to come and ask for some grooming. He is quite an affectionate young horse and has very warm eyes, which are yet still open and trusting.
Well, this was a close one!
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