it is camp week after all.
but today ends a week of being there. playing with fire, so to speak. and monday, they moved a huge, mammoth frisian into bucky's paddock and in order to let them work out the dynamics, i stayed away. but i had to check it out. see if he was adjusting.
this is the same giant draft who kicked the nice lady's slightly smaller draft and mad him limp (lame, i guess it's called). it will be a while before he heals.
when i got to bucky's paddock. he knew i was there, but stood, stone still, with one leg tucked in, i'd never seen him stand this way. and it produced a slight bulge just above his bend in his leg (i don't know horse anatomy, yet).
imagine a bump on the tapering part of a chicken leg. (fried. i mean).
so i was concerned. that and he was standing before a length of fence that had been kicked out, part jaggedly pointing in toward him, and the rail above, knocked in the other direction.
shit happened. but what?
the whole farm is rigged. thrown together with some baling wire and what seems to be round pen fencing. a very shoddy operation by anyone's standards. and there bucky stands in the middle of all that ghetto cowboy country, mudcaked and motionless.
i stood there for a lot longer than i intended to because he was immoble. the frisian motionless behind him (about two horselengths away), then prince, ambling around eating, unconcerned with his frozen penmates.
i wish i understood what it all meant.
then bucky turned to face me and, came fully alive, if you know what i'm saying. i noticed he always does this when i amble over and it's kind of weird. but i don't know how horses naturally are, so i just chalk it up to that. being a dude and having all that hardware to exhibit.
he walks over to me when his enthusiasm fades, and i greet him with a fist full of grasses and wild onion. which he gobbles down.
i gave him a bit more, he seemed all right. he walked fine. just a bit more aloof.
so i finally tear myself away from him, and prince never came over to get some lovin'. usually he drives bucky away to see what's happening. he maintained his position in the paddock, as did the frisian. like some incredible chess game. i hoped i hadn't cost bucky too much.
but then my girl rang my phone and i told her i was nearly there, walking back from bucky's paddock.
and when i saw the owner pointing, my girl standing at the far end of the other barn, her voice a plaintive,
hurry, mom,i knew something was up.
i told her i was checking on bucky. and since i'd asked her earlier that morning if she heard any talk about how they are doing, she said,
he's probably fine. if they had been talking about them, that would mean trouble. but i haven't heard anything.
the kid's sharp.
so in the car she tells me the owner barked at her for being in the barn where our favorite instructor is not.
what are you doing over here,the owner snapped.
i'm getting my stuff,my girl responded (unused to anyone but me being crabby).
why didn't you get it earlier,the owner pried
i had to call my mom.my girl stated.
the owner proceeds to mumble,
i hate camp week.
why anyone has public grounds they don't want the public on, i do not know. perhaps her misguided attempt to privatize her grounds is what my girl and i keep running into.
i'm shoveling shit for a friend and my girl, and now i'm not even going to get to see bucky. this frustrates me but for the horses. i remind myself, this is who i'm doing this for.
so i'll agree to whatever restrictions i have to, and catch a glimpse of bucky from hundreds of feet away and be content.
because that woman is not well. with this kind of vengeance, she's going to ruin the instructor's horse business.
i hope my friend gets out of it or the owner gets settled back at home (or wherever she came from, though she lives on the property, she has MS and doesn't always pick, pick, pick).
sigh.
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