Barn visit

Now that Karis is back at college, I wanted to go out and see her horse this weekend. I was trying to decide when I should go. It's too hot in the middle of the day, and I didn't really want to have to go to the far end of the field to catch him, because it's a LARGE field. So I decided my best bet would be to get there close to dusk, since I was sure they'd have to come in by then - you wouldn't want to go get them in the dark.

Therefore, I set out this evening right after dinner, about 7 pm. When I got to the barn, I saw one of the mares being led in, so I thought, great, I'm right on time. Lark wasn't in his stall, so I got his grooming box and lead rope and walked out towards the fields, figuring they'd be at the gate because they'd all be coming in soon. The stable owner was out there. She told me she'd just LET THEM OUT because it was such a nice night, so I could go TRY and catch him, but she didn't think it would be easy. Oh yay, I thought. But I'd come all the way out, so I figured I'd go get him. He was in approximately the same place as in the picture below from about this time last year (though earlier in the day, obviously):


As I walked out, I whistled. The other two chestnut horses looked up and moved toward me a little. But not Lark. He stayed there grazing. I called and called. He didn't look up. Finally when I was just a few yards away, he did come to me - probably knew I had a peppermint. So it wasn't really hard to catch him, I just had to walk a long way.

That decided what I would do with him, though. Since I didn't want to find my way back in the dark to let him out, I didn't have time for more than grooming. I did a pretty thorough job, though. Picked his feet, brushed out his tail, put Cowboy Magic in both the mane and the tail. I love the fact that his tail is shorter now - it's really staying in great shape. When I was done, I gave him the apple I'd brought. He totally slobbered ALL over my hands. What a messy eater!

So then I took him back out. When I brought him through the gate, I thought for a minute I had made a really bad mistake, because he made a movement as if to run off and I hadn't yet taken the lead off. It would NOT have been fun to try to find him out there in the dark, to remove the lead before he tripped on it. Fortunately, he did wait for me - a little impatiently - and I got to see him run back down the hill to his friends.

All in all, it was a satisfactory visit, even if it didn't go as planned. Of course, I forgot to take out the fly spray and horse treats I'd bought at Fleet Farm on the way home last weekend. Maybe next time I'll remember...