Nimble lips, me thinks.
The last time the pony pasture gate was opened, I figured that I hadn’t clipped the gate shut properly… or Dalton had let the pony trio out…. But now I think that maybe The Pony King Rocky Balboa let himself out.
You see, I was leaving to run an errand and I scanned the horizon as I usually do to count horses while pulling out into the driveway. But this time, something in my subconscious said, “WAIT! That isn’t Finn you are counting, that’s a much smaller horse… that’s… that’s… that’s the PONY – IN THE WRONG PASTURE!”
So I drove around the house to see for myself. And… yup. This is what I saw. A pony standing in Finn’s spot.
The pony was in Finn’s spot. Uh oh. You can see Wrigley in the middle left frame. He’s looking at me from the lower field. Also, you can hardly see, but there are two mating doves that have been courting over the last day. They are on the gate and panel right by Rocky’s head.
UH OH.
Now, this could have been disastrous because Finn is big and possessive of his mare, BG. And also, Wrigley is in that field… and he’s a very athletic, dramatic, wildman.
Since I don’t know how the pony lost his eye, one has to assume that it could have been from fighting. I didn’t want the pony to lose his other eye today… so I had to act quickly!
I needed to get him out of there until I could supervise.
So, I hopped out of my car and ran over there to move The Pony King before anything bad happened.
I did want to note, however, that Rocky had made it all the way from his pasture to Finn’s pasture, without any issues. He must have worked himself past the gauntlets of both Finn and Wrigley.
Well done!
As I got closer, I could see that Finn and BG were in the big field, grazing. Rocky was safe for the moment.
As I got closer, I saw that Finn and BG were in the big field – grazing. They didn’t notice or didn’t care that Rocky Balboa was in their pasture. (I had no idea where the donkey girls were… but I knew they could take care of themselves.) I grabbed a piece of alfalfa flake and ran over to the adjoining pasture, coaxing Rocky.
Rocky hears me get the alfalfa. *Notice the dove taking flight right above Rocky’s head near the roof of his shelter.
He followed me into BG’s pasture and I closed the gate behind him. He’s safe. He was probably always safe, but now I could go run errands and deal with it all later. *Note, we have a new neighbor. All the huge equipment and stuff that used to sit right behind Marty’s Grove – is all gone! There is only one tractor and it is paving a new driveway for the new owners. I have not met them yet.
AFTER RUNNING ERRANDS…
When I got home, Rocky was busy exploring his new digs.
The donkey gals were now in Finn’s pasture. Finn and BG were still in the large field. So, I opened BG’s gate to let the girls into the paddock with Rocky.
It was odd… they are not great buddies, but I think the donkey girls feel they belong wherever Rocky is… so they just gravitated to that spot. Odd since they could have gone anywhere. They could have gone back to their pasture, they could have stayed in the 5 acres, they could have stayed in Finn’s pasture… but no, they wanted in with Rocky – who they don’t even like.
Horses love to escape. But, they are creatures of habit and at the end of the day, they like the status quo.
Rocky seems very proud of himself… the ladies are fine. Of course, Ethel Merdonk is pinning her ears at Princess Buttercup Pebbles. She is such a grouch. You can see her flopped over mane in this shot.
NOW I GOTTA FIX THAT….
It will be an easy fix. I’ll use a carabiner with a new chain to lock this gate. No more flimsy hook that worked for 4 years with Dodger. Now we have a true Pony King who can open gates with his nimble lips.
Dalton can do this, too… so I’m stocking up on carabiners!
Nothing was damaged… he just worked the hook and loop until he got it undone! The chain was on the pony side so someone in the pony pasture unlocked the gate themselves!
