Ivan the Clown and Queen the Escape Artist

Ivan had me on the ground laughing this morning. That Thoroughbred is such a character. How shall I describe Ivan? The best word that comes to mind is LAZY. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a lazier horse than Ivan. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him lope and only once or twice have I seen him actually trot. He doesn’t even like to “speed walk”. His preferred pace is a mosey. You’d think with his long legs, he’d like to cover some ground. Nope. Instead, he’d rather walk at a turtle’s pace.

But this morning, with the colder weather, Ivan was feeling frisky. It’s become very apparent that Zeke has been hanging out with Ivan too much lately. Zeke, like all the other Arabians that have come through Borderlands, likes to toss their heads. Even some of the other non-Arabians toss their heads when they are feeling really good (Jim and Skippy come to mind).

Well, Ivan came trotting around a corner and tossed his head (yes, I said trotting). Surprisingly, the big galoot was able to trot and toss his head without tripping. I’ve watched some of the other horses try tossing their heads to see what all the racket is about but never do it again after that first time. It’s funny to watch them discover that they can toss their head but think it “beneath” them or too much work. But to see Ivan trotting for one thing cracked me up, but to see him toss his head like Zeke, had me in stitches. It was a good way to start the morning (and the day).

Last night we made a mad dash down to Pleasant View Tack Shop near Lennox. I like to try and support the local stores wherever I can. We were almost out of Rabbit’s antihistamine so we headed down to Pleasant View Tack to pick up another 160 day supply. We picked some up last year during their Open House and it last quite a while. The people who run this tack shop are so friendly and always willing to help out and answer questions. I also got to chat with the girl who worked with Chaos when he was at the trainers a few years back. It’s always so nice to talk with people and have them remember certain horses of Borderlands. It always gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling to know that one of the Borderland horses made such a huge impact on someone that they would remember them (and me) years later. Of course, who could forget Chaos? He’s such a hunk (but I’m biased).

When we got home last night it was nearly dark. I figured I’d let Queen out for just a few minutes while I prepared her grain and fed the geldings. There’s no bigger scare than to walk into a pen and realize that your horse isn’t there. Now, I’ve lost horses in that pen before but Queen was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t think she could jump the fence. She’s way too arthritic to do any jumping. But there is a spot that she could squeeze out and get into the gelding pen. We sometimes push the left over round bales over to the fence for the big herd to munch on and get a new bale for the blind horses. I’d rather they have the best quality instead of the hay that’s picked through. Well, when we do that, I have to move one of the corral panels out of the way and that’s exactly how Queen managed to get in with the geldings (it’s also the same way Mayhem managed to get in with the geldings the first of March when we were gone). Those darn mares are sneaky. I was worried that there would be molesting or someone picking on Queen but she seemed no worse for wear but was ready to get out. I had to coax her through the barn but she willingly went out onto the lawn when she realized what I was asking of her. Of course, she thought that being in the barn meant she was going to get her grain. But I still needed to let the little dog out and get a few things rounded up before graining Queen.

When I finally did get out and feed everyone and get Queen’s grain ready, she wasn’t interested. I guess she side tracked herself with grass. That old girl drives me crazy some days. But Mike grabbed a lead rope and walked her over to the pen. Of course she tried to play some of her tricks with Mike. Had a child walked Queen back to the pen, she would have been on her best behavior. Only with adults does she try and get away with murder. But that’s part of the reason why I love her so much. She’s there when you really need her and will put you in your place when needed. With age comes respect and I’ll give her almost anything that she wants. Of course, she wanted out on the grass this morning and didn’t get it. I’ll let her out on the lawn for a few minutes while we get ready for our first drill team practice in three weeks.

I’ve missed drill team but it was nice to give Zeke some time off. He dropped some weight and we’ve been working diligently to put the weight back on. Zeke isn’t a fan of beet pulp but I did watch him the other day lick out his dish. It always cracks me up to watch a horse literally lick out a grain dish. There are a couple others in the herd that, given the chance, would lick out a dish. When we used to run Sam (or maybe it was Bob), when they finished with their grain mash (and after making a total mess) they would lick everything up. I sure do miss those two big guys.

This week should be busy but filled with lots of horse activities! We are supposed to stay in the chilly weather for a little bit weather and then get rain this weekend. Guess I better get all my fun horsey stuff done this week before the weather turns soggy.