Escapees - Horse Party

This is a gate. It's a gate to one of my favorite places out in the country. Sometimes this gate is open when work's going on, and people are driving in and out and accomplishing various rural tasks. Other times, like pictured above, it's shut, no one gets in, no one gets out. Gates either allow passage, or stop traffic. Sometimes though, a gate will be completely ignored!


When I started this blog, one thing I wanted to do was remember stories of back when I had my horse, Trigger. Well, I've kind of evolved into more day-by-day activities and observations, which is fine. But .... right now, I want to get back to one of my horse stories. It involves a gate (or two) being ignored!


First I have to back up a bit before this actual episode. Back in my high school days of horseback riding, I'd often ride with two friends of mine who were sisters. They each had a horse, and the three of us would ride around the edge of town, country roads nearby, wherever it seemed good to go. Where I lived, it was really at the edge of town with dirt roads all around. Also scattered around were various fields and pastures. Two blocks west of our house was a fairly good-sized pasture, where a schoolmate kept his pony. This was a nice-looking pony - a little bigger than what you'd consider a "pony," and nicely proportioned. Anyway, when we'd happen to ride by there, here'd come this pony, and it would walk along the fence with us, or stand at the fence while we all sat there. Obviously this pony wanted to be friends with our horses! We'd ride on, and it evidently wanted to go with us!


Now for this thing I want to tell about. I can't remember if this was when the sheriff came to our door early in the morning telling us our horse was out, or if I just went out and he was gone. But at any rate, this one morning Trigger was ... GONE! And it was a mystery, because the corral gate was CLOSED. So Trigger had evidently jumped out. (See a previous post about his jumping a fence with a saddle underneath him!) So Dad and I got in the van and started driving around looking for our missing horse. We figured we'd check at my friends' house, which was kind of on the other side of town. Lo and behold, we got there, and sure enough, there was Trigger and THIS OTHER PONY, "visiting" across the fence with my friends' horses! They were all just standing there like a little herd of horses, with a wire fence dividing them in half. "Who told you you could have a horse party???"


The best we could figure was that the pony had somehow jumped out of its pasture, came over and "convinced" Trigger to jump out of his corral, then they hot-hoofed it up to where my friends' horses were in their backyard lot. Woo-hoo! Party! Hay h'orderves and oat shakes for everyone!!


Sorry, we're breaking up the party!!! Since my schoolmate's pony wasn't broke to ride (only drive), we went and got Trigger's bridle, got ahold of my schoolmate, and he came up and rode Trigger and led his pony back to its pasture. Then we took Trigger on home. Y'ALL ARE SOOOOO BUSTED!!! No more parties for you!!! At least not without permission and supervision. And we'll provide healthier snacks.