Last night I was invited to a little gathering… and I arrived back home about 9:30pm. Pitch dark.
As I made my way through the gate and up the driveway, my headlights flashed upon a horse in the road.
Wha?
It took a minute for my brain to catch up to my eyes.
It was a lighter colored horse, and a full-sized horse, but … “Who is that? BG? Finn?!”
My mind started racing. How in the world did he/she escape?
Of course, this wasn’t the end of the world because I had shut the gate behind me as I entered… but horses running loose at night can be very bad for irrigation and water spigots, not to mention over-excited hoof pivots on lawns.
I parked the car. Calmly, I went inside to tell a sleeping Hubby that there was a horse loose and not to worry, I’d fix it. He kinda offered a sleepy, “Need help?” – but I declined. This could be handled with a headlamp and a bucket of grain.
BUT THE ISSUE – HOW DID SHE ESCAPE?
So, I got my headlamp and went outside.
I could see Finn and Wrigley. They were safe in their pasture. So that meant that the loose horse was BG. OK, that’s almost the best case scenario because she is a good girl. Getting her back in would not be an issue. (I know… famous last words.)
First, however, I had to find the break in the fence. So, I started at the beginning and walked the fenceline of her paddock.
As I checked the fenching, Gwen – who was still IN the paddock that BG had left – was becoming frantic. She was jigging and lathering inside the fenceline. Hmmmm. No broken boards. No open gates.
How did BG teleport herself outside of the paddock?!
At the very end of the paddock, where the wood fence meets the wire fence, there is a gap and that is where I got my first clue. Gwen actually tried to push her way through. Hmmmm. At that “T”, I could maybe see how BG pushed her way through, but Gwen was too chubby and too frightened to do it herself.
So, I grabbed a small 4′ gate panel and bungied it up in that corner. I then got some grain in a bucket and a flake of hay. I gave the hay to Gwen to calm her down and then shook the pellets in the bucket for the universal, “Get back in your paddock” grain rattle call.
BG came running and put herself away. I shut the gate.
THIS MORNING…
So this morning, I tried to re-enact the crime but then decided against it because in the daylight, I could see we have hotwire on that corner that BG must have ducked under. Very unsafe.
Anyway, here is a pictorial of what I think happened last night.
Here is the gap between the wood fence and the wire cross fence. Slowly, the Tposts that hold the wire have been leaning outwards – and I didn’t notice.
BG must have ducked under the hotwire.
We don’t often go to this part of the property and I hadn’t noticed the erosion around this important Tpost. She could push against the wire and move it.
So I did this. And today, as I inspect this corner, I’m amazed at how much this fenceline has moved. NEVER buy property if you have to fence on a steep hill.
I let the girls out to graze with me. Here BG grabbed the treat bag in the wheelbarrow. Of course she found it instantly.
What me? I wasn’t doing anything!
Her hives are almost gone! I’ve had to give her quite a bit of anti-histamine daily – but she is relieved. (Can you find Gwen hiding in the trees?)
Here she discovers the sprinklers I have set up to bring back a part of the grass.
Meanwhile, 26 year-old Gwen slinks off to the garage to snag some treats. She’s hoping I won’t notice.
Back to BG. She now has her mouth on the sprinkler. She and Finn LOVE to play in water. I think it is interesting that brother and sister both love water.
And now rolling in the cool grass.
