I know I haven't posted much lately and that's mainly because all I've been doing is putting the horses out to pasture and then bringing them back in. Up until today we've been letting them graze down their fifteen acre pasture which is ajecent to the corral, but this morning it was time to put them out on the whole forty acres. I've been dreading this day ever since I started letting them out to graze, because it seems like each year the first few times they get out on forty acres I have to spend about an hour catching them!
Well, since there wasn't anything I could do about it, I early in the morning to commence the releasing process. I call it a "process" because the process lies in getting them all to come get their halters on. I don't usually lead them out, but allowing them to graze with their halters on makes it easier when it's time to catch them in that then all I have to carry is the lead ropes. Gingy was being very obnoxious so I sent to "time out land" which is otherwise known as the part of the corral that none of the horses like to stand in. He kept coming back and pestering me, still with some persistence he finally stayed put and showed some respect. Once they were all haltered I went to the tack barn to prepare the bucket of treats. As you may know from some previous posts I've been keeping a bucket along the outside of the corral fence so that I can get them a treat when I bring them in from pasture. Now though I'll have to start putting in the round pen so that they can't get to the treats themselves when they come in. After I managed to position the bucket inside the round pen fence it was time to let the rascals loose LOL.
As soon as the gate was open they all came flooding out. Cherokee of course was through the narrow exit first. Gingy tried hard to be second, but he got cut off by Marsy, yet when he did get out he took off like a fire cracker. Cherokee and Marsy were willing to settle down in a nice grass spot not far from the gate, but not Gingy. First he went to spot, jumped and down for a for a bit, then he went to another spot and jumped and down, tossing his head in the most crazy fashion the whole time! It was very funny to watch. After awhile none of them could hold their ectasy in any longer and they all went tearing down the nearby valley until they were out of sight. All I could hear was the sound of their hooves beating on the wet grass, but even that was filled with an overwhelming, energetic, joy. When they had finally gotten all of their jitters out, I went to check in with them. Gingy trotted up to me because he suspected correctly that I had treats LOL. After that I walked up to the house smiling.
Later upon my return to bring them in I felt aprehensive. I wanted them to be good ponies by at least being willing to let me walk up to them to clip the lead on, but I knew there was a high possibility that they would run off when they saw me. Before leaving the house I had surveyed the area thus I knew where they were, yet when I came to the place that I had last seen them at they weren't there. After some walking I realized they were over in the trees at the far end of the valley. About the time I saw them they noticed me and we stood watching each other for a moment. Gingy was the most attentive so I called to him. He ended up going back to eating grass, but the other two began walking towards me. It was like a dream come true, Marsy stared trotting to me and the other two followed at a fast walk. When they closed in around me reaching out hopefully for I was happy to hold a small alfalfa cube out to each expectant mouth. I clipped a leads on Gingy and Cherokee then we moseyed back to the barn as we always do. I wonder if it's the moseying that causes them to be more willing about being caught because it used to be that once they were on a lead rope they wouldn't get to eat anymore. Plus moseying is just more natural to horses.... I didn't have to catch Marsan because she followed us back to the barn and went in the corral by herself. I gave them each another treat from the bucket in the round pen then I put the tack away and hung out for awhile. I thought about doing something with Gingy at that point, but it was the hottest part of the day and I was rather hungry so I returned to the house once more, with a new smile on my face. I suppose that tomorrow could be different, but this success will make it easier to bear if things don't go well in the future.
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