The Grass is Always Greener.....

After a nerve-wracking two hour hunt and chase through deep snow, thick woods and down a two-lane road strewn with gawkers in cars, Sampson, the colt, is back home with his brother Curly. Sampson is on the right, with the white mark on his forehead, Curly is on the left. Earlier today Sampson thought he was old enough and wise enough to leave home in search of a better life, maybe in Chicago pulling carriages. He didn't elaborate.

Horses are easily scared by common things: a large snowflake, a limb falling, and in this case a deer running next to the fence this morning. Sampson, the yearling, thought it was either another horse he should meet, or it would be fun to run along to see what he could see. He chose the latter, which was fine until the pasture ended. Apparently horses are unaware that orange flags marking the end of one's property mean it is not appropriate to venture forth looking for greener pastures, or in this case whiter snow, on the other side. He also forgot what a fence is and why it is there.

A young horse, Sampson has not been totally trained yet so he is unfamiliar with horse apparel such as leads or harnesses, even bridles. After twelve adults, including four police officers, an equine specialist from the Animal Control Department, three passers-by who stopped their cars to help, two neighbor "horse" people, and my husband and I were unable to lure Sammy close enough to lasso him, we used Plan B. Having a backup plan is always a good idea and in this case Plan B meant stopping all traffic on the road, and carefully and ever so slowly "pushing" Sammy toward the house.

Horses have a good memory (but not good enough to run home once they escape) so we were sure once Sammy saw "the house" he would recognize it, click his hoofs together and run toward the barn, his home. Not exactly. He did recognize the house once he was persuaded to walk up the long driveway, woods on one side and high snow banks on the other. At the end of the driveway Sammy saw the barn and his brother Curly; that was all it took. In his attempt to click hooves, Sammy treaded through deep snow to get to the corral to rejoin the herd. All are now reunited and resting, sleeping in the sun after a rough but exciting morning. Hopefully this adventure is over and will not be played out again, tomorrow or any other day.

Note: the electric fence is currently being checked, and the corral with the broken fence board is closed off until new boards arrive. The issued ticket turned out to be just a warning, with no fine this time. Large fruit baskets have been ordered for all neighbors who participated in horsing around; they will be delivered on Thursday. As for me, I have stopped crying and am now drinking a large glass of bubbly. And so it goes.

Photo attribution: somewhatfrank