Jade.. the jet black mare ..huge full black forelock hangs below her soft soulful appaloosa looking eyes.. the protector of the rescue horses..her little herd..her responsibilities..she’s quiet..watchful..extre-e-mely watchful.. at first Bella the paint cross seemed the protector.. more outgoing..more excitable..now we know just more of an instigator.. it was Jade with her watchful eye and quiet demeanor that proved to be the protector.. not so much leading as herding.. i watch her as she watches them..if Sampson and Sally wander off in another direction from Bella.. Jade moves back and forth between her charges..checking..checking again..when Bella, Sampson and Sally snooze in the soft sandy area in the arena Jade stands guard like a shepherd over her flock..watching.. she rarely whinnys or fusses..rarely challenges..
appears to internalize..
worries..you can almost watch her eyes worry..
when a horse neighbor peers over the fence she watches.. intervenes if necessary in a clearly quiet way..slowly moving between them ..to protect.. defuse.. head things off ..in four months of watching them have only seen her offer to kick at another horse once .. more to react than attack.. when there’s no halter in hand Jade walks up to visit..when a halter in hand she moves away . .
to do her job.. always on duty..in her world she has a lot to watch out for. .
takes it very seriously..
i’m locking up last night..checking gates..checking horses..it’s dark in the country..no street lights..no cars on the road in the distance .. no moon out.. so still..no breeze..no sound..am slowly walking across the field of short scrub grass..my feet feeling their way on the familiar route ..am thinking of what to do next ..what to do tomorrow..when i sense a horse near me.. don’t hear it..can’t see it.. sense it..then movement..ever so slightly in the blackness something moves barely..there to my right..maybe ten feet away..my eyes squint in the darkness to try make it out..a horse with it’s head down..thinking it’s Sally as she’s often out by herself am surprised when it’s Jade..not coming up to say hi..not coming in to be stroked or petted..but standing there quietly..shifting slightly..is she nibbling little bits of new spring grasses.. is she just watching..can’t tell ..
annegreenstories 