I have often shook my head and thought "you (insert horse's name) are like a 1200lb. toddler!". Today Katie proved she was a toddler, albeit not 1200lbs. The horses were out in the yard with the pasture gate up top open so they could come in and out. Fairly normal however you have to keep an eye on them (read Katie) because the barn is also right there. She's been known to go in there when you aren't looking and poke around the stalls (not her own mind you) for food (she's starving, poor girl). If I close the top gate and open the bottom gate they can't get to the barn just the bottom yard, however that's hardly the point, today they had full yard rights.
I looked up from the house to see where they were at and I see Brody standing in front of the barn peering in. This can only mean a few things, there is a monster in the barn getting ready to pounce, Katie is in his stall eating his left over hay (he eats slow and always has left overs from breakfast), or Katie is attempting to open one of the grain bins and Brody is in awe.
As it turned out, Katie had used the few minutes she had to sneak in there to open Austin's bin. Austin gets a senior grain (read super yummy if you're a horse), Katie does not get a senior grain.
Up we go to investigate and Leo, of course, MUST be involved in scooting Katie out of the barn which means Leo caused more trouble then help. All you have to say is "No (insert any other animals name)" and Leo is on spot. I do think he is trying to say "Hey she said no, stop, whoa, ho, hey, back up, or something so you better listen!". God forbid I say "No, Katie." Leo and Katie have a love hate relationship, always have. So, we have Leo expressing himself, barking, running in a circle that makes no sense to anyone but him, and randomly crouching down in front of me for good measure. Katie, lady that she is, has decided that cooperating isn't happening, going in the pasture (even though she was caught red handed) is not in her plans, and trots up the hill. She shook her head at Leo for good measure, she did not toss her head, she shook it up and down right in his little face. It's her "get the heck away from me stupid dog, I have never liked you and only allow you to live cause she seems to" nod.
At the top of the drive, a short walk at best, I get a rope on Katie and promise to kick Leo's little ass if he doesn't stop bothering her so much and walk down to the barn. You'd think that's that. No, Leo decides that perhaps Katie didn't hear him so he barks again, Katie nods (I'm holding her), I yell at him, remind her she isn't walking alone, and in her stall she goes.
Right about the time we get Captain Mouth on his rope, and Katie in the pasture, I wondered why in the heck I decided these overgrown (in both instances) toddlers were a good idea.
By the time I latched the gate and untied Captain Mouth I was wondering how to explain to Leo and Katie that the life they took for granted would be paradise for an animal that has no home; the minute I wondered that I remembered that it was a good thing they didn't speak English because, goodness knows, guilt as a tool rarely works!
I looked up from the house to see where they were at and I see Brody standing in front of the barn peering in. This can only mean a few things, there is a monster in the barn getting ready to pounce, Katie is in his stall eating his left over hay (he eats slow and always has left overs from breakfast), or Katie is attempting to open one of the grain bins and Brody is in awe.
As it turned out, Katie had used the few minutes she had to sneak in there to open Austin's bin. Austin gets a senior grain (read super yummy if you're a horse), Katie does not get a senior grain.
Up we go to investigate and Leo, of course, MUST be involved in scooting Katie out of the barn which means Leo caused more trouble then help. All you have to say is "No (insert any other animals name)" and Leo is on spot. I do think he is trying to say "Hey she said no, stop, whoa, ho, hey, back up, or something so you better listen!". God forbid I say "No, Katie." Leo and Katie have a love hate relationship, always have. So, we have Leo expressing himself, barking, running in a circle that makes no sense to anyone but him, and randomly crouching down in front of me for good measure. Katie, lady that she is, has decided that cooperating isn't happening, going in the pasture (even though she was caught red handed) is not in her plans, and trots up the hill. She shook her head at Leo for good measure, she did not toss her head, she shook it up and down right in his little face. It's her "get the heck away from me stupid dog, I have never liked you and only allow you to live cause she seems to" nod.
At the top of the drive, a short walk at best, I get a rope on Katie and promise to kick Leo's little ass if he doesn't stop bothering her so much and walk down to the barn. You'd think that's that. No, Leo decides that perhaps Katie didn't hear him so he barks again, Katie nods (I'm holding her), I yell at him, remind her she isn't walking alone, and in her stall she goes.
Right about the time we get Captain Mouth on his rope, and Katie in the pasture, I wondered why in the heck I decided these overgrown (in both instances) toddlers were a good idea.
By the time I latched the gate and untied Captain Mouth I was wondering how to explain to Leo and Katie that the life they took for granted would be paradise for an animal that has no home; the minute I wondered that I remembered that it was a good thing they didn't speak English because, goodness knows, guilt as a tool rarely works!
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