Horses sure have a talent for getting into places they shouldn’t. When I went to feed earlier this week, Finn came galloping up from the far pasture. That in itself was unusual, but what was more unusual was that, although it was dinner time, Curly wasn’t moving. She was standing in a pile of brush.
Closer inspection revealed that she had straddled a log. Not only that, but she was hopelessly tangled in the vines that had grown around it.
Curly is a cool character. She wasn’t struggling. In fact, she looked a bit bored. Or maybe resigned. I ran back to the barn to grab a pair of scissors and carefully cut the vines from around her legs. With a little encouragement, she clambered over the log and ambled toward the barn, seemingly without a care, and certainly without limping. A quick inspection revealed no damage but left me scratching my head. That log had been there for at least two years and none of the horses have ever gotten tangled in it before, although Finn does sometimes jump the smaller branches next to it.
What was most interesting was Finn’s reaction. It was almost like he was trying to tell me something was wrong. It’s happened before, too. About two months ago, Curly had a choke/colic episode where she was on the ground. One of the people who lives on the property where the horses live called Curly’s owner (who was away) because she was down and Finn was trying to get her up. He described it perfectly: Finn was a great friend but a terrible paramedic. He actually bit her on her crest, I think trying to get her up. Luckily real medical help came very quickly and once she was tubed and the blockage in her esophagus cleared, Curly was fine.
But who says horses don’t care about their friends?