Conference noted::equitation

2008.0. "Horse goes exploring" by MOIRA::FAIMAN (Alternately stone in you and star) Fri Jan 12 1996 16:11

Well, we had a near disaster over Christmas.

We went to my mother's over Christmas eve, leaving a schoolmate of my daughter's
to feed her horse Christmas eve and Christmas morning.  I had turned off the
electric fence a week before, since the lower strand was buried in the snow.  I
don't think the boy came very late, but perhaps he hadn't left much hay the
night before, because Zar apparently decided to go foraging for himself.

When our next-door neighbor came home from Christmas morning with his family, he
found Zar standing in his driveway, contemplating his garage.  He says he
doesn't even like horses much; but he had a pony when he was a child, and thank
heavens he showed remarkable sense.  He went over to our house and found Zar's
halter and lead, but apparently Zar was having none of that; so he just had a
nice conversation with him and gradually led him home again.  When he got Zar
back to our yard, he went in our garage, found his grain bin, and lured Zar back
into his shed with a big helping of grain (which is probably what he went
looking for in the first place).  Then he went back in the garage, found the
spare coil of electric fence wire (we use the plastic ribbon) and ran a couple
of new strands across the stretch where Zar had walked right through it.  About
this time the boy arrived to serve Zar's breakfast, and everything was back to
normal.

All's well that ends well; but when I think of the possible alternative endings
I get cold shudders.  What if Zar had just decided to head off down the road? 
What if the neighbor had been gone for Christmas?  What if he hadn't had such a
remarkably good sense of how to deal with the situation?  What if Zar had been
tempted by the only greenery in our yard right the huge rhodendron bushes in
front of the house?  What if ...

	-Neil