This little horse

And yet another merry chase begins my weekend.

This morning I went out to feed the crew. Morning chores usually just consist of feeding, watering, hellos and have a good days. But as I'm filling up the chicken's feed dish, who trots up to wish me a good morning but Bella and Tommy! My heart sunk as I realized that the gate to the goat and horse pen hung wide open and Clover was nowhere that I could see.

Now I know both gates were latched when I came out to check last night. But at that time, it didn't matter - Clover was gone. I woke up my husband who had just fallen asleep after working the 3rd shift at a local food plant. I tried to think like a horse - but honestly, having only been a horse owner for a little over a month, I wasn't quite sure if I was thinking like a horse or simply a human trying to think like a horse.

Some things I knew: Clover is afraid to cross the creek. She doesn't like the sound of cars. She doesn't like the sound of her feet on pavement. Knowing these things limited the area in which we would need to search. My husband set off to search the fields across the street and down the road. I went down to her favorite clover munching spots. No Clover. No piles of poop to indicate that she had been there. I roamed the neighbors fields and yards looking suspicious, I'm sure, with my jeans tucked in my barn boots and a severe case of bedhead, and holding a halter and lead. Just further evidence I'm sure, to my neighbors, that I'm more than a little eccentric!

I searched the woods stopping every so often because I was sure that I heard her footsteps or a whinny. I met up with my husband and he hadn't had any luck either. My son, who is such a worrier, came out and searched the yard again. You wouldn't think you would have to look so hard for a horse (who loses a horse?) but her coat matches the colors of autumn and she truly is not very big.

Well, one of the worst things about getting older has been my loss of hearing. I looked at my cell phone and noticed a missed call. Our neighbors had found Clover! It sends chills up my spine to think that she was found next to a major highway but she was safe. Not only did the neighbors find her, but they fed her and put her in a clean stall and then called around until they found my phone number.

How do you thank people for doing something like that? I think, by returning the favor. By doing something for someone else. True, they are horse people and they understand the love of a horse, but they made such an effort in tracking me down. I know there is so much in the news of all the bad things, all the bad people in this world but it seems that I only run into the good people. I have always thought of myself as being somewhat jaded, but I truly have a hard time believing that there are as many bad people in this world as the media would have us think.

Anyway . . . I'm so thankful and so fortunate that this latest farm fiasco ended well. I think the experience will just remind me a little more of how kind the human spirit truly is.