We turned Glad and Sienna out onto the side pasture yesterday due to the promise of extreme heat yesterday. There is grass, trees and a small pond there, so we felt it would be better for them to be out there as opposed to staying in the barn lot.
Got home last night and went to get them in from the pasture so they could have their evening grain. They were nowhere in sight! I had brought some treats in a coffee can with me, so I started calling and shaking the treats to encourage them to come. My neighbor, Sandy, was with me and so we were splitting up to see if we couldn't find them. Sandy noticed them in the pasture ACROSS the fence from our pasture. I couldn't figure out where they got over, but had to crawl over the fence to get them haltered to bring them home. It was a bit like a Laurel and Hardy adventure trying to lead Glad and have Sienna follow. Weanlings do not ALWAYS follow their Mother, especially when it involves going down the back of a pond dam and they have tall grass on top of the pond dam to eat.
Jerry and Don were trying to open the gate between the pastures, but were unable to open it, so I had no choice but to turn the horses around (did I mention I was leading Gladys and she was an absolute STAR the entire time?). I headed to the top part of the pasture thinking there was a gate there that we could get through and just lead them a short distance down the road to our driveway, but our neighbor had taken that gate out. Meanwhile, Jerry and Don pulled up in the truck. I told Jerry to put the halter on Sienna and lead her as I was NOT going to lead Glad and have Sienna follow for the distance we were now going to have to travel on the gravel road. We made it to the only gate we could find, which is at the back of the neighbor's house. Headed down the dirt track to the back of the shed and house and OH BOY... saw a herd of GOATS that were loose. Wouldn't you know that really made Gladys sit up and take notice. <sigh>
This is where leading Part 2 comes in. <g> She actually didn't misbehave at all. She wasn't happy about going past the goats, but I managed to turn her around each time she tried to walk away from the road. Got her to stop, turn, and at one point, even back up. Jerry was leading Sienna and, bless her, she couldn't be fussed by the goats.
We made it to the end of the driveway and onto the road just fine. Headed home and man, can Gladys walk out! At the corner where we needed to head north to get to our driveway, we met a tractor pulling a hay rake and neither horse batted an eye at it. It was a very uneventful walk once we got past the goats. They gladly went back into the paddock, took a long drink and anxiously awaited their dinner.
Gladys did have a cut on her front leg. I'm hoping that they will be ok today as it is going to be hotter today than yesterday. But, we won't be able to turn them back out to pasture until we can go over that fence and get it fixed.
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