Lost and Found Horse

Last night, after dark, Mary led the horse from our fenced (but mostly unused) garden out to the barn. She didn't even have a lead on her because this horse has never given us any trouble. She heard something in the middle pasture and went to investigate. When she came back, the horse took off. She went down the driveway, down Raymond road, across Eight Mile Road, and kept going. She wouldn't heed any of Mary's calls, so she went back to get the van (and me and the kids that are too young to be left alone).

We went at least a mile in all four directions (along Eight Mile, and Raymond roads). There was no trace of Sorrel Sarah.

So, Mary called the sheriff's office, then animal control. Before we could get to bed, we got a call that someone almost ran into her. We checked again, but couldn't find her. We came home and called again, and they gave us the number of the lady that had called them. She met us, and showed us where she turned down seven mile road and disappeared (even though she had tried to catch Sarah for us).

When she led us to the place, she stopped and had her lights shining on a horse in a fenced pasture. This horse had a reddish-brown body, but a black mane and tail (Sarah has a reddish-brown body and a reddish-blond mane and tail). After more fruitless searching, we finally got to bed at 2:00 AM.

(I always knew that this animal was going to cost us some sleep.)

I really couldn't believe this. She has always behaved herself, but she decides to get a wild hair and run off at night. How stupid is that? I swear that more animals are killed by their own stupidity than by any other thing.

No word from anyone the next day (Wednesday). But, Mary went to the Bristol store and mentioned the horse. The owner commented that the horse had left a present in her front yard. As Mary was cleaning that up, she found out that someone had found the horse, and gave the number to Mary.

It turned out that the horse had gone the other way on Seven Mile road, gone around a few curves, and over two miles. Sarah appeared in some 4H girl's pasture with her horses. Interestingly enough, we were at the same 4H picnic and awards ceremony, and she remembered the funky-colored eggs that we brought.

They declined our offer to pay them for room and board, but they accepted a couple dozen eggs and some of the apple/choke cherry jelly that I had made last fall.

On the good side, we got the number of the leader of this 4H horse group. Paul will probably attend that group. Hopefully, we can all learn more about horses. There is really a lot to learn about the proper care and use of these animals. People literally make a life-time project out of horsemanship.

Anyhow, this is not the end of the story.

We were about three miles from home with a horse, a mini van, and no trailer. Remember, none of us know how to ride this girl, and she's probably too pregnant to be ridden, anyhow.

The thing is, she went there herself. The lady that almost ran into her said that she was trotting down the middle of the road just as happy as you please.

So, I led her out to the (dirt) road, and Mary came by with the van. We had the right-hand sliding door open, so I hopped in. It was tricky for Mary to keep the speed right because Sarah wanted to alternate between trotting and walking, though she mostly trotted. She generally kept a good 15 MPH speed going. I see the Amish horses doing that while pulling those black buggies, so I wasn't too concerned about wearing her out. She probably isn't in the best of shape, but she did fine. There was no trace of sweating when she got home. When I gave her some water, she drank maybe a gallon.

So now she's home with her buddies the goats. She had her drink and plenty of grass, not to mention the bucket of horse feed that we gave her just before we came home. She has hay in the barn yard, so she can pig out all she wants.