A Rude Awakening

The door bell rang yeasterday at 7:30 a.m., an event unusual enought that I "sprang from my bed to see what was the matter". Before I could get to the steps, I could hear the neighbor telling dh that our three horses were in his yard across the street. It never ceases to amaze me that in the handful of times our horses have escaped their confines, that they don't eat all the plentiful grass that is our yard, but instead cross our dangerous road for that across the road. The grass, indeed, seems greener on the other side of the fence.

I dressed quickly as dh roused the girls from their tent in the backyard where they slept the night before. Stealth, our white pony, was quite worked up, and all three were feeling the freedom and not wanting to return home. Before we could get grain to entice them to come, Stealth took off down the road, the other two following in hot pursuit. I could hear their hoofbeats on the road. They were gone.

I ran to the truck and the girls hopped in. We drove down the road, meeting our neighbor who was checking straight down the road. Following a hunch, I turned instead down a road that we often used for pleasure rides. "Bay" would know this way. Sure enough, we found them 1 mile from our house running along a fence holding in a herd of mini''s (miniature horses). Our grain got their attention this time, and we haltered them and led them home, the girls walking them the mile while I drove behind.

The girls worried over the fact that I hadn't taken time to put on my contacts, and that I was driving, though in truth I can see well enough to drive, just not read signs. Dh laughingly asked if I'd taken time to put on my bra before running after the horses down the road. (I had ;-)

So, all's well that ends well. The horses survived a run through rush hour traffic, and I've inspected the gate. The girls swear that the gate was latched the night before, but the clip that held the chain was un-bent. Therefore, either someone let them out (unlikely) or the gate was shut but not latched. I have today purchased a strong gate latch to install in place of the chain.