This morning I went to feed our two Older Americans, Pelton and Geronimo. Karla usually does this, but she’s in Death Valley at grandson Ben’s first birthday party (Today!), so the duty is mine. I also have Sioux, our adopted (from Hilary) dog. We start out by walking up the road, crossing Chocolate Creek, then going down to the barn and round pen where the horses get fed. Good early morning exercise, a total round trip distance of close to a mile if we then go all the way to our first gate..This morning Pelton was ready and waiting, but no Ger. Odd, but anyway I put food in both their bins. Then I went to check the spring that feeds to the Teacup, our watering trough. It was plugged up with roots again, so I removed its cover and tried to get the roots out. No success without tools, so I decided to take Sioux and walk all the way down to our first gate on the road to top off our exercise. As we approached the gate, I saw Ger standing by the fence. Well, not exactly by the fence, he was standing in the fence! He was standing outside the top and bottom wires, and inside the rest of the wires in the middle.
How he did this magic act I’ll never know. I got a fence tool and got him out of there and he ran up the road to the Teacup for a drink, then into the round pen for his breakfast. He had lots of wounds all the way from his left ear to his rump to his withers, and ending up at his right front leg. I washed them off, then put on some gooey medicine that I understand performs miracles for healing. His wounds were superficial, not the deep kind which happen when a horse thrashes and tries to get out of a trapped situation. He didn’t finish his breakfast but decided to let himself out of the round pen and walked off into the wilderness, probably to think about being a horse with no tools or opposable thumbs. I let him go because it’s not nice to keep a horse penned up on a hot day, which this one will be soon. The forecast is for 92°F (33C) in Fresno. Oh well, at least he’s not in Death Valley with Karla where it’s expected to be 104°F (39C) today.
Sub-par picture quality due to having only my iPhone camera and the lighting being very contrasty and a bit too challenging for it.
4 comments:
Happy Birthday to Ben!
Commiserations to Geronimo. Just as well he has you to unhook him from his predicament.
Susan: If I had not decided to continue the hike to the first gate, he'd still be standing there in his trap. When I called Karla to tell her of the predicament, she was so pleased to hear of my impulse to continue to the gate.
We have done that same thing on a few occasions, gone on that walk that we hardly ever otherwise would, to find a horse IN the fence! Is it "the message" being sent, telepathy, simple gut feel or shear luck, that made us go? You tell me.... Neta
Neta, who knows? I certainly didn’t get a strong impulse, just felt the need to take the dog on her full morning hike.
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