Meeting The Neighbors

Meeting The Neighbors

We had been on the property about a month before Dennis and Baldy took themselves on a "tour" of the neighborhood one warm Saturday in April. I had gone out to their playpen to check their water. While the water buckets filled, I decided to do a little raking, so I closed but didn't latch their gate while I took two steps away to grab the rake. Dennis—my old man Palomino of 22 years—bumped the gate open with his nose, pushed past me before I could stop him and got out. As I reached for his halter, Baldy—the six year-old Thoroughbred race horse—followed suit and with an evasive head duck, followed Dennis. If Dennis jumped off a cliff, Baldy would be a good Lemming and jump right next to him....

They got out. At first, they just wandered around the front yard, keeping just out of my reach. Then they wandered across the driveway to the abandoned 20 acres across from me, which, I'll admit, has much better grass. They stayed a clever two steps ahead of me. To this day, I swear that when they saw me coming after them, Dennis said to Baldy, "You know—we're already in a world of poop, so let's make the most of it. RUN!!!" And run they did, with Dennis in the lead. All over the abandoned 20 acres. I hollered for my then roommate, David, to come help me catch them. He hopped into his jeep and tried to head them off. After a few minutes, they started to head back up the back part of the driveway toward the barn. I thought this would be a good thing—they would turn back into their pen and all would be well. HA! Oh—they turned, all right—through another open gate and onto the back part of my 30 acres.

(Keep in mind that Dennis—a quarter horse-was going to be 22 in July. Baldy—a Thoroughbred—was only six and a race horse.)

David started tracking them in his jeep. They did a couple of laps around my 30. I'm watching them run—manes and tails flowing—thinking "Wow, they sure are beautiful when they run…DON'T GO OVER THERE YOU *##(%&@'s!!!!"

Part of the south fence is down. I hoped that Dennis and Baldy wouldn't notice and head for home. No such luck. They found the break in the fence and with me on foot and David following in the jeep, they went to visit the neighbor's 100 acres. Out the neighbor's front gate and down the road they trotted. By now, I had caught up to David and was riding in the jeep, keeping a little distance behind them. Surely, they were getting tired by now. I certainly was!

They trotted into the next neighbor's (Paul and Lynn's) front gate, where they allowed us to catch up with them in their front yard, but not catch them. As I got out of the jeep to catch Dennis, he looked right at me. I think he grinned as he and Baldy took off again and proceeded to run around the back of Paul and Lynn's house and onto their 100 acres.

Keep in mind that Dennis was the instigator in all of this and in the lead the whole time—I had been feeling sorry for him with his foot, shoulder and arthritis problems. I no longer had an ounce of pity for the old man.

David took off in the jeep and as I ran past the back of Paul and Lynn's house, we hollered, "Don't shoot! We're after our horses!" I got a few feet past their house when I heard a sliding glass door open. Lynn stood there trying to figure out what was going on. I turned to her and said, "I'll introduce myself later—gotta catch my horses…." As I turned back around, she said, "That's...okay—I work nights…."

Dennis and Baldy finally threw up their hooves and surrendered when they came to an irrigation ditch. I walked them home (2.5 miles) and figured they would be stiff, sore and lame the next day. About half way home, it dawned on me what Lynn had said about working nights. Sheesh! We woke her up! By the time we got home, Dennis was tired—he literally had his front feet splayed out and his nose pressed to the ground after he got back, but I really think he was still smiling.

The next day they were ready to go again! No lameness, no stiffness—none the worse for wear. I can't say the same for me—I was the one who could barely move.

About a week or so later, I ran into Paul at the hardware store, introduced myself and thanked him for not shooting us as we barged through their property. He said it wasn't a problem, glad everything worked out, and although he wasn't home at the time, Lynn had called him that morning and said, "Honey, the strangest thing just happened…."

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