No Problem

With all the mental and emotional gyrations I go through with George, it's amazing to me how very easy-going he is a lot of the time.

Today on returning from the grocery store, I found George and my daughter out for an evening excursion.

Later, from the pasture (where I was enjoying some very low-stress, George-free time with the mares), I saw them in the distance trotting up and down the alfalfa field (ahem, I think they're supposed to stick to the edges).

Then I heard a loud cry of "Oh gosh!" (I am not sparing the delicate ears of my readers - that's the actual expression she used.) Not a good sign. However, it was followed by a whistle and the sound of the dogs' names being called, so I figured it was a dog-related problem, usually preferable to a horse-related one.

Finally, they returned, my daughter leading George - again sometimes a sign of misadventure - but in this case it was because she had to carry a dog part-way home - namely the lost Schnauzer we are harboring until either a) his owners show up, or b) he goes to live with my daughter and son-in-law in North Carolina.

My daughter said George was very nice the whole time, and was no trouble at all when she was distracted with chasing and picking up dogs. He also had no complaints when she mounted. Gold star for George.

Gold star also for Bridget for keeping a cool head when she got her foot caught in the wire:

We had this fencing put in ten years ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and none of our horses in those days ever pawed at anything. Rose and Chloe never paw at things, but I think Bridget and George must be Italian or something because they are given to expressive gestures with their arms.

Anyway, I heard a commotion and looked out to see Bridget struggling, her foot caught by the wire. As usual, I overreacted and shrieked. Which caught Bridget's attention, and as soon as she realized I was on my way over to help, she stopped struggling and just stood there calmly with her foot stuck off the ground in the wire. You'll admire my humanitarian restraint in not taking a picture of the situation before relieving it.

P.S. Today one of the pastures was drilled and seeded with a pasture mix (30% brome, 30% orchard, 30% blue, 10% alfalfa), sown at half rate as there's already grass, to improve things next year. The horses will be kept off it until the spring, and then we'll re-seed one of the other two pastures. The hay field also had some seed added. On schedule: liming (all three pastures plus the hay field) and fertilizing (mostly the hayfield, as manure has helped keep the potash and phosphorus levels good in the pastures). Everywhere needs nitrogen though. When it comes to farming, I am a regular Blanche Dubois. Fortunately the strangers upon whose kindness I depend (the neighboring farmers and the lovely folk at Agronomy) are mensches one and all.