The Day Oliver Twist Became The Artful Dodger

Yesterday morning, like any other normal morning, began at the barn.

And as every morning has unlimited potential for adventure

and mis-adventure...

yesterday did not disappoint!

(Let me preface our story by telling you that we were on a bit of an unusually late schedule

yesterday morning after a fitful night of sleep.  I was awakened at 2:30 AM by a trembling

Sammie next to my bed and a high-pitched, staccato double-beep coming from somewhere in the house.  Every minute - "beep beep" - Sammie trembling, as he hates beeping sounds.

The long and short of it is... we found the beeping - a dying phone battery-

but getting back to sleep was not as easy.

Hence, we didn't awaken until the rising sun lifted our eyelids.)

We have a routine in the morning.

We stop on the way to the barn at the sheep and pig's yards,

and Jack busies himself taking care of this area

as I walk to the barn to start transporting horses to the upper pastures.

I gather the halters and lead ropes and head into the far stall.

Here I am always met by Moonbeam, as he is always first to the pastures.

Invariably, two littles are dancing around the stall as well,

and I usually am able to keep them in line.

Yesterday, however, as I was haltering Moonie,

little Ollie slipped past me and trotted out into the stall aisle.

A split second calculation, and I decided to just let him go and continue

haltering Moonie.

Ollie, having lost his Momma at just three weeks of age, 

 is exceptionally attached to his herd,

so I knew he would not venture far without them.

I'm pretty sure I heard a few "Waaahooooo!"s as this little man gained his freedom.

As I walked Moonie out of the barn towards the pastures, 

Ollie came galloping across the yard next to the garden.

(Oh, how I wish you could witness his little tiny legs

running as fast as they can... it's quite comical.) 

I swear he can cover as much distance as a full sized horse

in the same amount of time...

it's just that his legs fly 5 times faster!

He raced around the perimeter of the garden,

stopping where the lane turns to go up to the chickens.

I could see the wheels in his fluffy, little, white head turning...

"Hmmm.... what now?" I could hear him thinking.

He stood there for a moment considering the possibilities.

Suddenly, he turned and raced towards the gate to the upper pastures

 cutting across the yard through which Moonie and I were walking.

The dogs were running around excitedly with all of the commotion,

and Annie came racing up behind us.

With that, Moonie did an airborne about-face...

1500 pounds of Haflinger was now staring me directly in the face,

ears perked, snorting.

All four feet had left the ground, only tethered to the earth by the lead rope that I held

tightly in my hand.

It was one of those heart-stopping moments when things happen too fast

for one to even react.

In retrospect, it was a very lucky thing that I was not knocked into

kingdom-come by this very large horse.

"It's okay, Moonie... let's go...."

I was amazingly calm for what had just happened.

We settled ourselves and proceeded across the lawn as Ollie

raced as fast as he could

 right into the appropriate pasture.

By the time Moonie and I reached the pasture, Ollie was busily

eating his breakfast, his adventure complete.

Ollie, with his one blue eye,

and one brown eye,

has always been the one to keep us on our toes.

I truly cannot imagine life without the antics of these two tiny horses!

The rest of the morning proceeded like clockwork.

The craziness behind me, I walked Red, and Ollie's empty halter, 

to the upper pastures...

followed by two well-behaved "bookend" ponies.

Just a typically, a-typical morning around here.

And so we have reached another Friday.

I am doing a pop-up shop Saturday morning at our local coffee shop.

So, if you are in the area, stop by Espresso Yourself, in Newport and see me!!

Hopefully, the rest of the weekend will be quiet.

I need to get organized for Thanksgiving next week.

I'll tell you more about our unusual Thanksgiving in next week's blog.

Have a great weekend.

See you Monday with more Tales From The Farm.