The problem that we had was Princess--she was sick. Princess is the most devoted, loving and temperamental barn cat in existence. She has stolen our hearts with her very large personality. Since her person has moved to a different stables down the street, we have been tending to her needs. Well, that morning, the little cat with the appetite of a large dog, didn't want to eat. She followed us around a little bit on Ranger's walk, but after that, she just laid on a chair in the "sick cat position. Her tail was barely flicking, she didn't want to be petted and she didn't attack us or any of the other cats all morning.
We were really, really worried.
We were hopping it was something like a bad hairball--she has long hair--and it is very thick--or she ate a bird that disagreed with her. We decided to give her 24 hours before we panicked and called her mother.
We both worried the rest of the day.
Day #4 of the 4-day weekend started out with good news. Princess had her appetite back! What a relief.
It was still very hot and even more humid, if that was possible. We were meeting Shari for a ride, but we didn't think it would be wise to go far.
Everything started out well. We got down the hill and across the river without incident. Once across, we started trotting right away. Bella was in the lead, followed by Dante and I came up last with Cole. A couple of airplanes came over, but Ellen kept Dante trotting and all went well. Then a really loud airplane approached. Ellen decided to stop Dante and have him stand quietly. As the plane passed over us, Dante got frightened and spun. Ellen kept him spinning until he once again faced the direction we were traveling. It surprised us all, since at least a dozen planes had flown over us so far on the ride without him caring in the least.
We continued on our way. A couple minutes later, another plane approached. Dante stopped and stood like as statue--as if to show Ellen that he wanted to redeem himself. He was great with planes the rest of the ride.
We turned around and started toward home--keeping the same formation, but there was a lot of distance between each horse. As we trotted along, Dante started to get a little excited. Cole tripped. Dante heard him and that was just the excuse he needed. He took off running. Ellen yelled out a warning to Shari--who stopped Bella and positioned her across the trail. That was all Dante--the horse who is afraid to pass other horses--needed to convince him to stop.
After a walk break so Ellen could calm her nerves down, we did some more trotting without incident. As we got closer to home, we just walked to cool them down.
Once again, there was a lot of space between us. Bella was in a hurry because the bugs bothered her. She was leading. Cole came next; followed by Dante, who was just relaxing. I could see a horse go to pass Bella and come our way. As he passed, he gave out a loud stallion cry. It was a stallion. This got Cole's attention. He was a stallion until I bought him as a 4-year-old. He knew just what it meant. Bella was in season. The stallion was prancing about. I turned back to give Ellen a warning--remember, Dante is afraid to pass other horses--and a prancing stallion might just be too much for him.
What I didn't know was that Dante heard that neigh, and for whatever reason, he just took off at a gallop towards us. As he rounded the bend, I turned Cole to block the trail to see if we could stop him. I didn't know if Cole would hold his ground or want to run, himself. To my relief, Cole seemed to know it was important to stand still. He held his ground, and once again, Dante stopped rather than trying to pass another horse.
I warned Ellen that a prancy, neighing stallion was up ahead, and she decided to get off. The rider of the stallion was simple wonderful. He took the horse through the trees to the paved trail that was close by to let us get passed him. By now, Dante settled down, but Cole was wired. He decided he was a prancy stallion, too. I felt him start to dance sideways. I decided my safest bet was to dismount and try to get him to relax. It did take a few minutes, but once the stallion was well out of the way, Cole became a gelding, once again.
We were close to the river when this happened, so we led them until it was time to cross. Poor Ellen was quite shaken by the whole experience. When she went to mount, her muscles just wouldn't obey. She decided to just lead Dante across the river. I mounted and rode Cole across. It felt great to be on the other side.
In all my years of riding, nothing like this has ever happened before. We have seen stallions, and we have ridden with mares that were in season. The stallion really didn't do anything wrong except to neigh and prance a bit. Bella was great. Dante wasn't even close to the stallion. It was all very weird. Since it never happened before, I would conclude that it is unlikely to ever happen again.
Of course, it had to happen on Ellen's vacation.
When we got back to the barn, Princess greeted us. We were reminded about what was the most important. We were all safe and healthy. That is really what counts the most--every day.
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