My horse knows what she wants and won’t give up until she gets it. Today was a prime example. I went out to feed Millie and Cookie this morning and I could tell Millie was in one of her moods. Normally I ignore her because she does eventually get over whatever she’s upset about.  I got her food and put it in the barn because the barnyard was a mud pit and I thought it would be nice if they ate somewhere clean and dry.  Millie came inside and ate two bites of her grain and then walked right outside again.  I immediately went into a panic.  This fat horse never turns her nose up at food, unless she doesn’t like the hay and then she pisses on it and walks away in protest, but this was good hay and grain that she’s been eating every day.  She did come back in the barn but only to move her horse Cookie outside and away from the food.  This is when I really started to pay attention to what she was doing.  She was standing right outside the door in a sunny spot looking at me intently.  I tried to get them both back inside to eat again but even when I was successful in getting her inside she wouldn’t go near her food.  Then for some reason I got it…..  this horse wanted to eat outside.  I love Millie and am just now really starting to understand her but I still ask myself at least once a week, “what the hell am I doing with this horse.”

When the weather is nice I let Millie play in the back yard and every once in awhile she’ll just start running.  I was lucky enough to have my camera out and ready to catch this muddy blur. 

I was informed last night that we are missing one chicken.  There is no evidence of foul play so I have come to the obvious conclusion that she ran away.  Hopefully she finds a place that will provide her with the food and shelter she is looking for. She’s a good chicken who was raised right and I just wish her the best.  My only true worry is that she was lured away by a rooster and is now laying eggs for him.  My heart is heavy today and will be until I find out what happened to her or until we get another chicken.

Nothing says good morning like waking up to your favorite horse missing.  I was lying in bed trying to convince my feet to touch the floor when I hear a distant car honk.  I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I recalled the horrific accident of a car accident that involved a neighbor horse.  I asked my husband if he remembered closing the gates last night and he quickly said yes. I felt immediate relief but after a few minutes he told me he wasn’t sure anymore. He got his shoes on and went outside to find his horse nervous and no Millie.  It was really dark so we couldn’t see anything.  We could hear several neighing horses but trying to figure out which neigh was Millie’s was impossible. Then we heard a very familiar squeal.  My husband got in the truck and started down the road in the direction of the squeal where he quickly found her eating on the side of the road.  I had woken up my son to help and he started walking down the road to get the big stupid horse.  In December it will be one year that we’ve had this horse and I’m praying real hard to meet the one year milestone. 

Millie reading to the kids.

We went out of town this past week and decided to take the horses up to my friends place to board them.  It just made me feel better having them with her because she knows horses and if anything happened she would know what to do.  Both horses have also been at her place so I felt they would be fine for the seven days we would be gone.  Well on day five I get the call that Millie isn’t eating all her food and also acting very mopy.  We decided that we would leave early so we could get back to our girl as fast as possible.  

When we got home we just got into the truck and headed over to pick her up.  All I could think about is how she needed to gain some weight before and how now she would probably be emaciated.  I pull up to the barn and went right to where her stall was.  They were cleaning it and Millie was tied right outside the stall door.  She had a little hay and was nibbling on it until I got a little closer and then her head popped right up and her eyes got big.  She gave me a look as if to say, “so there you are!!!!” I gave her a big hug on the neck and then she nudged my shoulder.  My friend came over and told me all that had happened.  The first day she tried to put her out with the other horses on the back pasture.  Well Millie went after all of them. In fact she said not one horse was spared the wrath of Millie.  Most of these horse weren’t hers so Millie had to be separated from everyone.  She did let her hang out in the round pen but even then she would squeal and kick when a horse walked by.  When she was in her stall she would also kick and toss her head like a crazy horse.  On or around the third day she would just stick her head in a corner and sulk. Or if she was outside she would stare at the house like she was waiting for someone. She would eat some of her food but most of it ended up on the floor where she would then spread it all around.  This was food that I brought for her so I know she liked it. The last day she stopped drinking her water so I’m glad we left early.  My friend said she has never seen a more depressed horse.  She looked right at me and then said that she really believes Millie missed us.  Cookie by the way was fine and showed no reaction when we went and got her.  

So now I’ve decided that I can never go on vacation ever again or I’m just going to have to take her with me wherever I go.  

Not sure how this happened.  I went out to feed the animals in the morning and poor Cookie had this gapping hole. Not sure what to do with these animals anymore.  One thing to remember about Cookie.  She needs two doses of sedatives in order to be worked on.  Yep she’s a druggy.  

Another example of how I put my horse in peril. By placing her in the hands of my friend who merely pretends to know what he’s doing 99% of the time.

I hate it when she plays dead because then I have to go and poke her with a stick. 

Picture time with the family. The kids felt that should include everyone but the snake and the turtles. Well, I was actually the one to put a stop to the snake and turtles being dragged out and wrangled.  Millie was excited about the pictures until she found out her horse Cookie was going to be in the family photo.  I don’t know why she was so negative about her being included but it made her so pissy that we couldn’t get one smile out of her the whole photo shoot.  The following pictures are what it looks like trying to get, chickens, horses, dogs, kids, and adults looking at the camera and smiling. We gave up on that goal ten minutes into the photo session.