Musical horses

So here is the dilemma...

Here at the farm, my little pieced together slice of heaven, we have "the farm house" which works out nicely for Leo and I, we have "the barn" which has three stalls (thanks to Kate, Lindsey, Gary, Kenneth, Cody, Joshua, etc), we have "the shelter" (thanks to Kate, Gary, Kenneth, Dale, Scotty, the grandkids and myself), and lastly we have the chicken coop which does not deserve quotes because, little did I know, chickens scare the crap out of me (it's a long story).

Normally in residence, normally being loosely used because in the short time I have been here the parade of animals has been pretty well...parade like! I am however going to focus on the dilemma at hand before we discuss the parade of animals.

Here at the farm we have Texas, Patch, Amber, and Katie. I am going to sidetrack a little and give you the inside scoop on each of them and what they mean; laying the ground work for "the dilemma".

Texas; when I think of Texas I often sigh. Texas is my big love. Texas makes my heart swell and worries me like very few can. I really have a hell of a time explaining how special Texas is to me. He is beautiful, strong, gentle, patient, impatient, demanding, goofy, loving and loyal all wrapped up in 15 some odd hands of chestnut glory. And those eyes...you can't look at Texas and not fall in love.

Patch; when I think of Patch I am reminded of a leathered cowboy, wise beyond his years and not to be fooled, or forced, by anyone. Patch is smart, he is beautiful with his spotted butt and freckled lips, he is stubborn, he is gentle as all get out, he is the most alert horse I've ever laid eyes on, and he is a quick little guy. He is also prone to doing exactly what he should not do and is the messiest little horse EVER. I adore Patch, admire Patch, and am fiercely protective where Patch is concerned. I am terribly proud of Patch and truly thankful for him every single time I look at him.

Amber; Amber is a sweetheart, that best describes her. I found her on craigslist when I was looking for a horse for my boyfriend (read a DAMNED FINE reason to look for a horse). Amber was at the auction when a lady brought her home. She put weight on her, worked with her a bit, got her feet taken care of and placed her on craigslist (read DAMNED FINE reason to buy said horse). She came to us needing a touch of weight, certainly not anything to speak of. She'll give you a hug, when you brush her tail she will rest her head on the stall and close her eyes, she has the softest eyes, a stubborn streak that rivals Patch and, again, is just an absolute sweetheart. She doesn't like Captain Mouth (Leo) all that much and isn't afraid to let him know, she can't keep her blanket on straight to save her life and although she loves Patch she secretly covets Texas. Amber is like the gentle daughter I never had.

Katie; I think of Katie and instantly "ahhh The Princess" comes to mind. She is unbelievably gorgeous, her face could melt a million stallions. She has the biggest brownest eyes, the cutest little ears and a back end that other mares probably dream of. Katie is also very smart, she wants badly to make you happy, she looks like a giant ant eater when she nuzzles something with her nose, and absolutely loves to be fussed over. She doesn't "think" she is a Princess, she knows it. She is absolutely not afraid to let the other horses know that she is not just any pony, she is "The Pony". She makes me wish I were not 40 some odd years old and had spent my childhood on horseback as opposed to skates.

So back to "the dilemma". The barn has three stalls, the shelter "could be" two but really it's one. There is no real way to separate the shelter into two stalls right now (read I have no extra gate) and there is really only one door (read redesign necessary to make it work). All that considered someone has to be in the shelter. The shelter is covered on three sides, nearly four, with an opening at one end and two windows on the front.

I feel horribly guilty when anyone has to stay in the shelter and not the barn. It's not uncomfortable, it's bedded, it's huge, it's dry, etc etc. A lot of work went into that shelter over the last six to eight months and honestly if it were connected to the barn it'd be deemed "Tex's room". Problem is it's not connected to the main barn so inevitably someone is up there by themselves. Keep in mind that I am clear on the fact that they are horses however I still drive myself crazy with "oh my goodness she/he is lonely, he/she feels left out, etc. etc.". I've been through the shelter guilt before, it's not really anything terribly new. I thought I could handle it and control my desire to turn the second half of the barn (read hay room) into a fourth stall...not so much

Tonight I decided that Patch and Amber could hang out in the shelter; it's pretty warm, they both easily fit in there, they have blankets, blah blah, no worries. I cleaned Tex's stall and the middle stall to get ready for Katie and Tex to come in; I did NOT clean the other stall on purpose (this was to serve as motivation to not chicken out and let the two of them stay in the shelter, they have before for the record). I cleaned the shelter then went about getting Texas in.

Tex gets to the gate without so much as a nod from me, as it turned out Amber also decided the gate was the place to be. I get Tex out and Amber sneaks out; she was right at his butt, Leo was hopping around like a retarded bunny and it wasn't worth the fight so I let Amber go hang out in the yard and figured I'd get the other three settled in.

I got Katie situated in the middle stall and eating, so far so good :-)

Patch is at this point looking at me like "umm REALLY?" I went and got the hay for Patch and Amber; Patch sees me headed away from the gate and figures he's eating down at the bottom (by the house) so off he goes (smart guy but obviously confused). Amber noticed I was up to something when I came down to get her carrying a lead rope and about twenty pounds of hay and perks right up. I didn't really need the lead rope cause the minute she figured out that "oh yeah dinner" she came up the hill and headed to the barn. Well much to her surprise Katie was there; being slower and carrying twenty pounds of hay she got there a few steps before me and was already playing kissing face with Katie. She must have heard me cause she left Katie, we went to the shelter together and I put her hay in the FAR corner and Patch's (he'd figured it out too and was back up top) in the corner nearest the door. They both went about eating beautifully so I went back to the house to discuss retarded bunny rabbits with Captain Mouth.

It was not five minutes later when I looked up at the barn and see Patch looking horribly dejected and confused cause Amber wasn't letting him back in the shelter to get his dinner. I am sure all she did was look at Patch and out the door he went. You don't have to chase him from his food, you simply have to imply it's possible and he walks away.

I headed back up, gestured to Patch with my arms (waved to the gate) and ended the evening with bringing him into the barn. He was pretty confused when he saw Katie in his "room" and played a little kissy face before I opened the gate and let him into the end stall.

Amber is in her "room" tonight and the dilemma will begin tomorrow when I try to convince myself once again the shelter is not torture! For tonight Patch is in Katie's stall, Katie is in Patch's stall and only Tex and Amber are where they "normally" are. Unless you count Leo, he is of course on the couch and shortly headed to "his room" (read my bed)!

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