Lost a Horse

This morning I managed to lose a draft horse in a drylot. It’s not the first time I’ve lost a horse but it is the first time I lost one in a smaller area. I’ve lost the entire herd in the pasture. Of course I blame that on the hill that is our pasture. I’ve walked the entire pasture to discover that they managed to wander into the big drylot or were on the other side of the hill that I didn’t happen to walk all the way around.

But this morning I lost Thor. Babe had her head buried in the round bale (typical for her). All I ever see of here these days is her butt. Queen was snoozing by Babe but let out a whinny when she saw me. She’d missed her alfalfa last night because we were late in doing chores (starting chores at 9pm means I cut down on just about everything). I thought Queen’s whinny would set Thor or Babe off but it didn’t.

I grabbed a couple flakes of alfalfa, climbed the gate, tossed alfalfa to Babe and Queen, and went in search of Thor. I had a feeling Thor was standing in the newly constructed shelter. I’ve never actually seen him in it and was wondering if he’d ever used it before. Sure enough, Thor was in the shelter snoozing away. It’s so hard to wake a sleeping horse, and even harder when they are blind.

I made a bit of noise and promptly put the alfalfa to his nose. For Thor, that’s the best way to wake up, with a nose full of alfalfa. He “sees” through his nose. Babe “sees” through her ears. It’s amazing to watch how those two have managed to adapt to their disability.

Thor went to town on his alfalfa and I left him there. I was rather tickled that he was in the shelter. I wasn’t sure if it would be something either Babe or Thor would go into as it’s a tarp building and makes noise. If you can’t see it but you use your other senses, will that bother them. Apparently not. I’ve had to give Babe her alfalfa in the shelter too. I expect I’ll find all three in that shelter at some point.

Surprisingly enough, the shelter is pretty small once you put Thor in there. Oh sure there’s room for all three, but Thor really filled the shelter. It’s supposed to fit a vehicle and it fit Thor perfectly. Beings that both Babe and Thor are blind, I wondered if they would even go into it. I guess my worries are over. They both know where it is at and will go into it when they want. Wish I had one or two more of those garage in a box shelters. They really do work nice for the horses. It’s not permanent by any means but it is additional shelter if they so desire and works perfect as a wind block.

So the lesson for today is: if you lose a draft horse, carry some alfalfa.