(Sometimes you just don’t know what day it is.)

Didn’t like that program much when I was young. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Two weeks ago was was a lead-in for this week. Now I don’t expect you to believe it, because I’m still having difficulty with it, but I’ll throw it out to you for entertainment, more or less.

The owner of the TB has a very special bond with that horse. I’ve had special bonds with mine, but this one is different. Can’t really explain it. She knows what he is thinking and communicating. I mean I knew what Desert was going to do at any given moment, and he knew what I wanted before I asked, but this is different. I’ve gotten strange feelings from this horse. Like he was smarter and more knowledgeable, just couldn’t put it into human words. Not a good explanation, but like I said, can’t explain any of this.

So the last couple of days I’ve been bringing them in the barn because of afternoon storms. When it’s time to go out I would get the old dude and walk him to the next stall to get the TB. Old dude hasn’t wanted to come out onto the concrete because he’s had sore feet from all the wet. I usually treat them for a few days and they are fine, but my back has been out and bending was not an option. So he would get onto the concrete, walk the couple of steps to the TB’s stall and stop. I’d get the TB out and he’d start walking for the back door which is only about eight feet from his stall door. TB would be walking and the old dude has planted his feet and was not going anywhere. I’ve got one horse ahead, one horse planted and me in the middle being stretched like Gumbie. So the TB stops and waits while I play tug-of-war. Well two nights ago the TB stopped and looked back like “what’s the deal?” So talking to him like he understood me I said “his feet hurt and he doesn’t want to move. Do something, talk to him.” Well the TB turns around and walks back, licks the old dudes neck by his mane, then nudges him and he (old dude) walks out beside us. Okay that was weird, but I’ll take it because now I can get on with turning everyone out and feeding.

Okay, comes the next night and we’re back to the same situation. This time I didn’t say anything. TB stops, turns around, comes back to the old dude, (now remember I didn’t say anything) nudges him behind the elbow three times. No movement on the old dudes part. TB then grabs the cheek piece of the halter and drags him out the back door by the halter. I started laughing and just walked along with them. As soon as they were out the back door the TB let go and we proceeded to the pasture.

Of course I thanked him for his help, but was in total shock as to what I had just witnessed. I’m still in shock. Today my back was better and I treated the feet, but I can’t wait to see what tonight brings. Once again I’m not giving any direction, just being a bystander in this whole scene.

Well I didn’t play that game the next night. When I took the old dude out of the stall I kept him walking out the door. I did that for two nights in a row. Left him outside the door on the grass, went back in and got the TB. That worked well for two nights. The third night I put the old dude on the cross tie to do his feet (it’s right by the TB’s door). When I was done I put the halter on the TB, unclipped the old dude and went to walk out. (Now let me say that I didn’t clip the throat latch on the halter because I was just turning them out, and taking the halter off. I also know that the old dude isn’t going to do anything stupid. So once again, without me saying anything, the TB turns around and comes back for his friend, who isn’t moving. Without the throat latch being closed the cheek piece was closer to the eye, so the TB grabs the back of the nose band and starts to pull. Old dude said “I’m not moving.” After several tries the TB lets go and then proceeds to take the skin on the old dudes jowl between his teeth and gently pulls him. He was so delicate on how he did this I was amazed. At this point I just yelled at the both of them and out the door we went. Old dude got the message.

You can believe it or not. I still don’t.