9/25/2008

Ooops, where is the halter?


I am skipping the planned post on DORmanship to do a public service announcement.
This picture is of me and one of my support crew, Dakota. I have it up so you can look at me because I am soooo darn handsome...not really, I want you to notice the halter I am wearing.
That nice red halter is usually in the back of the DOR's car when it isn't being used. The reason she has a halter in her car is that we live in an area with lots of livestock and there have been times that she has needed it to catch some loose critter.She carries it and one other one almost all of the time. I want you to stop and notice the phrase "almost all of the time", it plays an important role in today's adventure.
The DOR was coming home after going to the mill to get orchard grass hay pellets for the mush faces she owns. While driving down OIE (which is a very busy country road) she spies a loose horse being followed by a very upset girl. The horse is beating feet down the middle of the road, cars are going by honking and not helping out at all. The girl is so upset with the horse she kicks at it in frustration when she got close to it...not a good way to catch your horse. Dakota is screeching about the horse getting killed by a semi as the DOR pulls over to see if she can help. Remember that halter that she carries "almost all of the time"? Well wouldn't you know today was one of those days she didn't have it. Actually she hasn't carried any tack in the car since last Thursday, it is her way of reminding herself NO PLAYING WITH HORSES until next week. What to do? Those of you that know the DOR also know that she wears three shirts all of the time: a white under shirt, a tank top, and the an outer shirt (usually a Hawaiian shirt). Well that came in handy today, she caught the wayward horse with her Hawaiian shirt. She asked the girl if she had a halter, no such luck. No rope, no halter, and a quarter of a mile walk back to the pasture along a busy road with cars going 50 mph...great, just great. The DOR told the girl to use the shirt to lead the horse and she would watch for traffic (remember the DOR is under orders not to be handling horses), the girl replied that she can't ever get the horse to lead...oh goodie, even better! She did have a bucket she was shaking for the horse to follow, so the DOR thought she could use that and get the horse to tag along-that was until she saw the bucket had dog food in it...what the heck? Well poop the DOR had no choice but to lead a balky horse down a busy road with nothing but a Hawaiian shirt and a bucket of dog food. It took a bit of time and some gentle persuasion by the DOR, paired with lots of pats and scritches to get the mare back home. She talked to the girl along the way, explaining about why the girls horse wouldn't let her catch it and how to respond if it ever happened again. The girl got a number from the DOR of a person that can help her learn how to handle her horse.
The DOR is having to ice down her arm that they ran the catheter through and is in big trouble with the support crew. She doesn't know it yet, but she is in big trouble with me! If she is going to break the rules she can at least swing by and rub my hinny just at the top of my tail...it is impossible for me to reach.
Here is the public service announcement: NEVER EVER EVER TAKE ALL OF THE HALTERS OUT OF YOUR CAR! You never know when you will need it and what will you do if you don't have a spare shirt? You fast drivers out there, when you see a horse running down the road slow down for heaven sake and don't honk your blankity-blank horn...thank you very much.
Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR

6 comments:

LatigoLiz said...

If you can’t spare a halter and lead, a 10-15 foot lead rope by itself works just as well; or even a length or rope from the hardware or sporting goods store. Guess I should be sticking one in my car, too. I have been lucky enough not to see any loose horses around here...just the occasional dairy cow that comes to visit and beds down on the cooking and warm compost in the shed!

Jack, you tell your DOR to listen to doctors’ orders!!!!

Cheryl Ann said...

That is so true! I always used to ride around with a spare halter and lead rope in my car! One time, we were up in Lancaster, and a beautiful dog came bounding across a busy highway. I grabbed my lead rope and got it around him to check him out...he wasn't hit or anything and was a really nice dog. We found his collar and called the number on his tag. Turned out, his owners had JUST moved in that morning and he got loose! Needless to say, they were very happy to see him again! But, it was the fact that I had a lead rope in my car that I could attach to his collar that led us to find his owners! That reminds me, I NEED to go stick an extra one of each in the car this weekend!

The W.O.W. factor! said...

That said about halters always being handy...even if going to a fine dining experience (yea, like I'd know about that!)..but we never are without..or for sure rope! BUT...to traffic people! MY OH MY! PLEASE SLOW down if you won't help! We had a horse chased by a dog,,headed east on I90 by Easton...heading in the West bound lane...NO ONE was slowing down..a semi truck driver saw her coming and jack knifed his rig so those behind wouldn't hit her and he jumped out and caught her! She'd fallen several times, ending up breaking her coffin bone..but no one either direction would help...I'm running alongside screaming, not able to catch up to her.
Urgh....people sometimes!

Rambling Woods said...

Oh my gosh..I travel around with a coffee mug and my GPS..I love hearing about you Jack...LOL. I too dress in layers...

The Blonde Duck said...

Found your blog through W.O.W's--too cute!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Jack! Your DOR is a good Samaritan. But she needs to remember to take care of herself.

 

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