Stowaways

I put the horses in the amphetheatre paddock, close the gate and smile. Good stuff. Work is done for yet another week. I look around to see if anything else needs to be put away. And, why is that horse out? Oh no! Why are all the horses out? "Pete forgot to close the other gate!!!", I whisper with fury under my breath, and run to close the gate to the house.

Trying very hard to look calm and indifferent I walk towards the horses. They see me, and gallop towards the front gate. There is a large triangle of grass there, that I am hoping will stop them. Mo sniffs the grass, then calmly walks down the bank, onto the driveway, and straight out the front gate. Gally follows. "Oh sh ... there is X thousand dollars walking out the front gate!!!"

I trot up after them. They (all five of them) go a 100 metres up the road looking for nice grass. When Crownie sees me coming, she decides the joke isn't funny any more, and she heads home. The rest do a runner up the neighbour's driveway. Crownie, seeing she's got no pulling power, joins the crowd. The next door neighbour runs out shouting. I plead with him to let me catch the leader. I don't have half a string on me. I grab Mo, one hand on the mane, one on the nose and lead him back home. (Mo is not actually the leader, Gally is, but I know I can lead Mo without a string. Not sure about Gally.)

I close the entrance gate, and hang on it for a few solid minutes. I still have to catch the horses and put them in the amphetheatre paddock.

I am 5!

It's Sabina's birthday today and she is very excited. (She's actually been excited for the last two weeks, but today there is extra zing). She's bouncing off the walls rearranging her helium balloons time and time again. I'm worried she will run out of steam before the guests come.

The guests arrive, and Sabina finds something extra. She eyes off the first guest with some disappointment, but otherwise she proves to be the perfect hostess. She gets a party hat for each guest as they arrive, and invites them to play. Later on, when we play party games, she really gets into the spirit of the game. A pretty far stretch for an ultra competitive youngster. And she is rewarded with a win in the musical chairs.

The only time she looks somewhat unsure, is when cake arrives. I stare at my little girl across the cake and the candles as we all sing Happy Birthday. She seems sad. I smile at her, and a huge smile slowly spreads across her face. Once the singing and cake eating is done, she runs around merrily calling out "I'm five! I'm FIVE!"

Night out

We're going out to the local pub for dinner tonight. Not an extravagant affair, but a bit of a special treat nevertheless. I splash on a touch of eyeliner and lipstick. Sabina eyes me off, looking fresh and spruced up.

"Mama, but when can I wear the blue eyes and the red lips?", quizzes the natural beauty with the gorgous green eyes, and naturally pink lips.

Hungry

I walk into the paddock to collect buckets. The feed is long gone. Tornado, who looks more like a wine barrel than a pony, comes over enthusiastically and nickers at me, hoping for more food. I interpret it as "I'm starving! I'm so hungry I could ... well ... eat a horse!".

I point over to Bess standing in the corner "What about that one over there?".

Tornado looks over then hangs his head "Nah, too gamy." Pause. "So, anything in that bucket you're holding?"

I look at his sizeable girth. "No!"

Shower power

Mo has a fungus on his hindquarter and I bring him in for a woolwash bath. It's a hot day. The perfect time to do it. Sabina and Tornado are milling around as I apply the white foam liberally at the hitching rail. Time to rinse off. I stretch the hose to the hitching rail and start hosing Mo down.

"Mama! Look at Bess!", calls out Sabina, as the bay horse casually strolls over for a shower, having broken through the tape fence. She stands behind Mo and exposes parts of her body to the hose. Then she faces the spray and chomps at the water droplets.