Loose Horses!

(Sorry, no pictures for this entry - I wasn't there when it happened.)

Friday around noon the herd went sightseeing down the road. (Sans Diablo. For whatever reason, she remained behind in the pasture.) Alice, the woman who lives in the old farmhouse, saw Abby and the twins bucking and cantering past her front window and called Tim to let him know the herd was out.

Tim, the sheriff, and even Alice (who is older and has difficulty walking) were out to round them up. Apparently Abby and the twins were easy to corral and lead back home, but Trouble and Hokey had gone further and took longer to catch. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the horses were not hit by any cars on the road.

But how did they get loose?

The east gate by the old barn was standing open when it was discovered the herd was running free. Did someone prank us and deliberately set the horses free? Tim secures all the gates on the property really well - so well, in fact, that sometimes I don't go out in the pasture but just visit with Abby over the gate as it takes a lot to open and then re-secure the gates. Whoever opened that gate would have had to make a concerted effort. Plus, Alice has a huge and very vocal watchdog who barks loudly at anyone coming down the access lane to the old barn.

(I suppose it is possible that someone could have approached the gate from the next door property and thus circumvented Alice's watchdog. I've walked up from the new barn through the pastures and not been spotted by her dog before.)

Or maybe someone left the gate open while working with the horses? That doesn't make sense for several reasons. First, it is just Tim and me who go into the pastures. (Alice and her husband are mostly housebound due to age-related issues.) I did not open it when I was there Thursday; I visited with Abby in the barn. Secondly, that particular gate is not one that gets used. It only opens to the access lane to the old barn which is just used for storing hay and shelter. All the tack and the indoor arena where Tim rides are in the new barn, so if he is going to ride or work with a horse, he opens the gates over by it.

Could it be that the horses had an altercation and ran into the gate, somehow popping it open? As secured as those gates are, it doesn't seem likely, but then, neither do any of the other possibilities.

I feel a little unsettled about the whole thing, and wish we knew how that gate became open. And, I am really grateful that none of the horses were hit by a car and are now home safely.