Feb 15..it’s late in the evening..about ten..am out checking horses..checking gates..tucking everyone in so to speak..a shepherd with her sheep..my equine sheep..it’s very dark in the country..a coal black sky dotted with tiny twinkling stars..it’s cold..heavy jacket hood up cold..and still..no breeze..when pulling the heavy green steel gate closer to the gate post to latch with the heavy chain ..a routine that keeps horses closer to the house during the night there’s a noise behind me..i recognize the noise..it’s a horse foot tap against the base of the no-climb horse fence..a soft tapjust once..not really even a tap..more of a brush the foot gently at the base of the no-climb..not startling me but surprising me somewhat as there wasn’t anyone there a minute ago..such a quiet tap..by a quiet horse that came up almost ghost like with not a hoof sound on the hardpan dirt area..it’s a polite request..hello please..like someone standing behind you making a slight cough to get attention..in turning around it’s barely possible to make out a silhouette in the dark..it’s Sally..mustang Sally..
she’s asking something..hello please..we need something..is it her first request for the four..her first time to be the spokes-person..the spokes-horse..or did she just want something on her own..and it comes to me.. the answer..they’re in the arena..they usually sleep in the big area under the eucalyptus trees ..right by the hay squeezes..the three squeezes of 64 bales ..now twelve foot tall stacks of hay that block any wind ..the sleep area that has years of soft compost type bedding beneath the huge branches that will keep her dry if it rains..and lastly but foremost the place she can reach under the corral panels and sneak a bite of bermuda during the night..ok Sal..at times like this my response is to answer the request..she has asked to stay out by herself before..asked to have the blanket on again..and now asked to go up to her sleep area..and have everyone go with her..she is understanding that i understand..and will answer.. not to spoil but to continue opening communication between us..between her and humans..to encourage more communication…polite communication..for her to understand to not bang or bend or destroy a fence as some will do….but to politely ask..and it appears she understands..for tonight anyway..so off we go..heading toward the gate from the arena to the sleep area..about eighty feet from here..Sally walking slowly behind me..not making a sound..we reach the gate..unhooking the chain and swinging the gate in toward the arena Sally stands back..she waits for the others to walk thru..Sampson first..followed by Bella..and Jade.walking single file to the sleep area..not running as they did when first here..one at a time ..nose to tail..learning patience..learning taking turns..learning manners..
annegreenstories 