The Great Escape

Thursday morning started like any other school morning. We had had breakfast and Kira was waiting at the door for the bus to come, Kumi was getting her lunch together and I was just getting ready to step into the shower. I stuck my head out of the bathroom door and Kumi said my horse had run off. I went back into the bathroom to look out the window expecting to see the horses running around the backyard. No horses. I stuck my head back out of the bathroom and Kumi was putter her coat on. I asked her where she was going and she said, some what more emphatically, YOUR HORSE ESCAPED. What...


Kira had opened the door and looked to the left and said, "Mariah! What are you doing here?" Kumi looked and sure enough, all three horses were out in front on the neighbors house munching on the grass. Well, nuts. Kumi went out while I pulled on some clothes. On my way out the door I grabbed her bull whips since they were handy. I figured we could wrap the end of the whip around their neck and use it as a lead rope since the lead ropes and halters were down in the barn.

I walked out the front door (which is saying something. A year ago I would have run out the front door and that would have sent the horses running. But I have learned!) I walked over to where Kumi was with the horses. About this time the bus pulled up and Kira got on but the bus didn't drive off. The horses were right there and the driver did not want to scare them. Bless him!

I gave Kumi a whip and she put it around Beamer's neck with no problem. I went to put it around Ebony's neck since she was closest but as soon I moved towards her she walked off. So went to Mariah and but the whip over her back. As soon as she felt the whip on her neck she walked down a very steep hill which she promptly proceed to stumble down. That set Ebony off and Mariah and Ebony went galloping off into the neighbors backyard. Swell. At least we had Beamer. So I waved the bus to go on and told Kumi to put Beamer back in the pasture and then come back and help me catch the other two.

And then we got lucky. Beamer was following Kumi back to the pasture, not real happy about it but well behaved, when Mariah and Ebony looked behind them to see if Beamer was coming. No Beamer. They stopped. Then they spun around and came running at me. I popped the whip to encourage them to not run over me as they thundered past and up to the road. Mariah stopped and went all Morgan. Head up. Very alert, eyes bright, ears forward. And then she blew a big snort. But Beamer didn't stop so Mariah had to follow him. She took off at a trot with Ebony on her tail and they trotted down the road and right down the driveway, past Kumi and into the pasture.

Once they were in the pasture Kumi closed the gate behind them. Mariah did not appreciate that much. As soon as she had gotten into the pasture she gathered up Beamer she turned back to the gate. She wanted more of that tasty grass. When it closed, she started bucking and leaping and tearing around the pasture snorting. Kumi and I stood by the gate for three or four minutes laughing. Once she got it out of her system she went and found a hay pile and started to eat. Show over.

Mariah has gotten out before. I think she learned how to open the gate. I was surprised that it was open because hay was out. When hay is out, horses will normally ignore just about everything else and eat. That leads me to think that somebody might have opened the gate. Especially since the out riggers on the tractor were down. I think somebody might have been messing around. Since then, we have added a clip to the gate to keep the horses from being able to open them. If we find they have escaped again at least we will know that they had help.

That evening when I got home, Kira told me all about her day at school. It was rather entertaining. It seems that one of the boys who rides her bus has a flair for the dramatic. He was telling anybody who listen how the horses had attacked the bus and almost eaten him! Seventh grade boys can be a little strange. I should know, I used to be one.