That’s a line that was used often on the hunt field when the Field Master would like someone to come forward and open a gate for the Field (the riders).

Gates, in the horse world, are a necessary evil. Most gates you see on a horse farm have dents, and bends in them. Sometimes from the people, most times from the horses. Oh yes, also from trees falling on them, or people running into them.

I know, you’re thinking, what do you mean caused by people? Well my friend was learning to drive with her new horse trailer; and coming through our double gates up at the road, she didn’t turn wide enough. Not only did she catch the gate with her trailer, but she ripped it off the post and then ran over it. Her comment – Oopps.

Mostly horses love rubbing their butts on the gates, which put a glorious bend in them. Bobby’s way of fixing them is to take them off the hinges, lay them on the ground, and jump on them. Then there are those horses that like to double barrel the gates at the other horses on the other side.

Wherever you have a gate, you have dirt because of the traffic going through them, or horses standing there waiting to come out.

Gates can be a shield when you are letting horses out. When you open the gate you can stand behind it to protect yourself from getting run over.

Which brings us to the thought that gates, sometimes, can be opened in either direction. I love watching people trying to open a gate in the wrong direction. There are two possible problems with the direction you open a gate. My favorite is when the gate is on a slope, and can only be opened in one direction. Have you ever stood there and watched a person trying to open a gate up hill? It’s very entertaining. They stand there trying to figure out exactly how to do it. If the ground is higher on one side, doesn’t it make sense to open it downhill? Not to some people. The confusion on their faces is priceless. What’s worse is that you have to tell them to open it in the other direction. Seriously?!!!!!

The other thing is when you have a pasture with a bunch (meaning more than a couple of horses. In horse lingo “a herd.”) and you only want to get one horse out at a time. Now my horses are patient and well behaved and I never had a thought about it. I would take one horse and everyone would wait their turn quietly. So how was I to know that at my friends barn it was a free-for-all at dinner time. She had an amazing way of feeding. She would put grain in the stalls in both barns, then open the gate and all the horses would come galloping out and find an empty stall to eat in. It was a horsey version of musical chairs. Well you can’t believe my shock and horror when I went to the gate and the first couple of horses slammed through the gate knocking me (thankfully) out of the way, and the insanity began. They kept circling the barn until they found an empty stall. Her comment, “oh no, you open the gate inward toward the horses and only let two out at a time. It’s much safer that way. Are You Kidding Me?!!!! I never had the chance to even determine how I wanted the gate to move. The whole thing was taken out of my hands when I unlatched the chain. Then months later I watched her just open the gates and let the games begin, not two at a time, the whole herd. The horses knew exactly what the routine was, I however did not.

Years later my vet, which was her vet, was at my barn early and I hadn’t had time to bring all the horses in before he came. So I told him I would just let the two down in the pond pasture loose and they would come up by themselves. He was waiting for the “Black Friday”, open the doors stampede like at my friends place. My two boys just quietly walked up the hill to the barn, which was about a 200 foot walk. He was amazed. He was expecting chaos. Actually I think he was quite disappointed, but I was pleased.

Then there is the “I forgot to latch the gate thing.” You get distracted and oopps, I’m bad. Or you close it but leave it unlatched because you’re only going to run to the barn to get something real fast thing. The wind blows it open and it becomes the “you can’t catch me” game.

Or you can have a horse like Zoey. Now teaching a horse how to open a gate is a great thing on the hunt field. Even when your coming home from a ride and don’t want to get off to open a gate, but it has it’s draw backs. Like when you’re trying to get a halter on the other horse and you’re taking too long, she will swing the gate with her nose and slam you and the other horse. She will open the gate and wait for me to say it’s okay to go through, but don’t be in the way when that gate comes at you. “But mom, I was only trying to help, and maybe hurry you along a little. After all, dinner is waiting.” Friday was paying attention to me putting her halter on, and was not expecting to get whacked full force, full body length with a gate. Then she throws Zoey a dirty look, I yell ZOEY, and life goes on.

But then there is the unexpected. When I lived up north, someone in the middle of the night, backed a trailer up to a pasture gate and loaded all the horses into the trailer never to be seen again. Down here, some kids wanted to steal an ATV and couldn’t figure out how to get to it. So they opened the pasture gate for a direct line to the ATV. The horses got out. Luckily it was a dirt road, dead-end street, the horses were safe and came back home by themselves. ATV didn’t.

Like I said. Gates are good, and gates can be a problem. It’s all in how you look at it.