Be Our Guest
Squeals and nickers fill my barn these days. Mister Horse – yes that really is his name – has come to stay with us. Mae, Star, and Horse are old friends from the same stable, The Golden Unicorn. Mae and Star take turns alternating between flirtatious nibbles and don’t-touch-me squeals with the old guy. Some days I swear he looks baffled by their play, but handles it with his usual easygoing attitude.
Horse is owned by Amanda, a young woman I met a few years ago at The Golden Unicorn where we rode. Recently, our worlds were tipped sideways by the loss of the stable owner. She was our rock, our mentor, and our friend. The loss still feels unreal. Amanda soon needed a new place for Horse and I had the perfect solution. After Cora, my first mare, passed away last summer, I had an extra stall. Amanda knew Mae and Star well. In fact, she finished off Star’s training so she could be a big help around the farm. Being close to her work meant she could come by often. So, one beautiful summer morning, Horse moved in.
He is a polite, handsome chestnut boy, about nineteen years old and is 15.3 hands tall. He spent most of his life at our friends stable with beginnings as a barrel racer, but moved to hunter. He left the farm for a few years when his previous young owner moved him to a stable closer to her, but returned a few years later. He tended to be speedy and excellent, if not a bit over zealous jumper. I once saw him take a 2.5 jump like it was 5 ft to the shock of all of us, including his rider. In my eyes, he was way too much horse for me. Any offers to “hop on him” I politely declined.
Old age has mellowed him and Amanda only takes him over the occasional low jump these days. He rides the trails like a pro even when a fox popped his head out to say hi. He really is quite sweet with perfect manners and has settled into his new life here.
Watching the equine trio and their quirky herd dynamics has been entertaining. It’s been great to have an extra set of hands around the place and we have some great projects planned in the coming months. Amanda still nudges me to ride him every now and again. We’ll see.
