What An Amazing Discovery

The day dawned bright and crisp here with a heavy frost on the ground. A strong warm sun soon warmed the air and chased the cold away, bringing us a day that was too lovely to be inside, pacing myself, and feeling miserable. Oh no- this day begged us to be out in it, sharing in the glorious light. The spring birds were singing at the top of their lungs, and the breeze was warmer than it has been in a while. Sonny Bunz and Snicker Pony were feeling quite frisky, but Snickers was also feeling like a love bug. As I messed with him this morning, he allowed me to pick up all four tiny hooves. This is a milestone in our relationship, as Snickers has been rather resistant the whole 2 1/2 years we have known each other to having his tiny toes trimmed. During his last visit here, we made a strong, concerted effort to learn how to be a gentleman during his pedicures. Most days we had to spend an hour or so learning how to quietly and politely be handled like a gentleman. It looks to have paid off, as this morning sans halter or lead, he handed each hoof to me like said gentleman. *phew*

We had other beasties to tame today, but they had two legs and were in the form of snarling children. Time passed and they settled down as well, and I was able to head back out to play with Sonny Bunz and get myself a red headed horse fix.

A good grooming revealed the start of shedding. That right there was a thrill, even though it brought out sneezing and more coughing. It was well worth it! Sonny was antsy, and wound up. He was ready to DO something. So we did. I placed the surcingle on his broad back, fitted the bridle on, (was too lazy to remove his halter- which in this case was a good thing), and we moseyed out to do some warm ups and long line work. He stepped forward in a strong flowing walk, with his ears forward and eyes bright. At my request, he moved right up into a long strided strong trot, and I could see trouble brewing in his eye... In an attempt to head it off, since I do NOT allow bucking and "playing" on the lines- ANY line- I was setting him up to change direction and change pace. Too late- he threw in a buck, stepped up into a canter, and tossed his head... and BAM! The surcingle broke. It came off his back, flipped up and bopped him in the head, and he managed to drop his head and yank off his headstall.

Loose horse.

Headed out our road, towards the highway.

At a gallop.

I about passed out at the sight of his rather large and powerful red hindquarters, tail streaming behind him, headed on down the road. Little black dots danced across my vision, and my knees were watery.

Fortunately, he turned around at some point and came back towards home. He blew by our drive, and went instead over to the neighbors. It took about 10 minutes for me to corner him here at home, and catch him.

The good news is, the whole time he was galloping about balls to the wall, or showing off in this HUGE floaty extended trot, the bugger was SOUND. Not one bad step. Holy Mother of God, that horse was SOUND, and his movement had my jaw almost on the ground. I was stunned, as was Dear Husband. It was almost tempting to not catch him as he was prancing around the yard just so that we could watch him.

Fortunately, better sense prevailed and I caught him.

There is now a SOUND horse in my paddock. This is going to sound silly, but I almost don't know what to DO about that. So long has been spent patching things back up with him that seeing him so sound and ready to go and ready to MOVE is boggling my mind!

All in all, (now that the children are in bed,) it was a fantastic day.

I can't wait for tomorrow!