Stall Rest Chronicles 15 March, Turnout Day 1, Release The Kraken

Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]

Milton al fresco. In field sans halter. The first day of turnout had mixed results.

Morning

First turnout session went great.

Amid much trepidation, Chief Minion led Milton out to the field and removed the halter. Milton did … drumroll … nothing. Ate some cookies. Looked around. Grazed. Easy peasey.

Rodney went out for his turn afterward. Milton had separation anxiety but nothing alarming.

Mid-Day

Second session, less great.

Milton fussed on the leadrope. Milton fussed off the lead rope. Milton kicked his minion. Rodney jumped out of the run in. In middle of this, there was activity in the cow field, which always sets them off.

In other words, mass hysteria.

Wait, what? How did this happen?

Rodney went out. Brought back in when time was over.

Milton went out. As best we can tell, Milton was mad about going second. I go out first! Then he thought he was back on a leadline. I do not need a chaperone!

He lost it. Spinning. Hopping. Flinging his feet. Minion managed to hang on. Fit the second. Minion got clipped on the hip with a flying hoof. Still managed to hang onto rope.

Settled down.

Ate a cookie.

Released the kraken! Kraken continued to express himself. This upset Rodney in the stall.

About this time, the truck showed up in the field next door to feed the cows.

During one pass, Milton came zooming back into the barn. We slid the boards across to keep him in. Everyone was lit up like thousand-pound, moving Christmas trees. Turnout was over.

Waited a few minutes for the steam to settle.

Rodney was still in stall. Milton in run-in. They needed to be swapped. Halters on. Horses swapped. Halters off. Rodney sashayed up to the corner were the board had been slid across the opening. ‘No. I need to check out the cow situation.’

Jumped out.

Yes, my 24-year-old horse, who can’t jump a crossrail without panicking, jumped a four-foot high board as tidy and clever as you please. No space. No speed. Just, boing, gone. Let’s not forget the low roof of the run-in shed that he had to stay under. Advanced level event horses don’t jump keyholes that tight.

Horse got hops.

Evening

Both horses went out quietly and stayed that way. They were read the riot act before they were led out. Either they listened, or they were too tired to fuss.

Thought For The Day

You would think that Horse Kicks Human would be the headline. Rodney saw that and said, ‘Hold my beer.’

Update. Minion good. Milton tagged him at full extension, so the force was low. It was as much a push as a thump, so the vector math was on the shiny side.

Onwards!
Katherine