Early Morning Horses

Thursday ~ February 9th, 2006 ~ 5:30 am. Right after I wake up, I sneak out to the living room and hit the toggle switch to turn on the propane fireplace. I hurry back to my room, close the window that I crack open every night for a tiny bit of fresh air, no matter how cold, and pull up the blind. Then I pop back under my down comforter, which I have a love affair with every winter, and, if I’m lucky, I go back to sleep for a little while.

But not this morning.

My window faces east and I open my eyes every once in awhile to watch the progress of the sky as the sun begins to catch the low lying clouds; they turn from a colorless grey to brilliant oranges and pinks. This beats the hell out of hitting the snooze button every three minutes.

When it gets a little lighter I see that the horses are in the east pasture. This is my favorite way to start a day!! I count them all and notice where my horse is. My little mare Lakota is going to be nine this spring. She is a spotted bay Missouri Fox Trotter and quite the looker. She is mostly red with a luxurious long black tail, four white stockings and an “Oreo” mane. On her left side (her female side) she as two white hearts, and on her right side (her “male” side) she has a white lightning bolt and what looks like a dolphin arching up out of the water. When I say she has an “Oreo” mane I mean that her forelock and top of her mane is black, then she has this wide white section and then it turns black again as it moves down her neck. My friend’s daughter said it reminded her of an Oreo cookie, chocolate on the outside with white cream filling. Lakota is the elder in this herd and often, unless antagonized directly into action, stays off to the side as the younger horses run around playing, bucking and farting.

But not this morning.

Flash, the little black and white pony is trotting around the field ~ he is generally the main instigator of orneriness. He has no idea that he is the smallest and he harasses every one until he finds some one who will play with him. But he is no where near Lakota when suddenly she bends in the middle, throws her head down and kicks out her hind legs. She is not threatening anyone, since there is no one near her, she is just “feeling her oats”. I set up in bed. She trots off a few strides, swinging her head down and off to the right like a teenage girl who is trying to get her hair out of her eyes. With no warning she jumps right straight up in the air ~ all four feet off the ground ~ arched back ~ stiff legged. She looks like a coyote pouncing on a country mouse. Suddenly she takes off at a dead run, head high, tail arched up in the air like an Arabian hussy. I move to the middle of my bed to make sure I can see the whole show ~ what a performance this is.

Tail still high in the air, she runs ~ springing off the ground on all four legs in a single bound. I call this her Peppy Le Pugh imitation ~ remember the little love sick skunk of the good old cartoon days? What a riot! In the wild this could be a sign of high anxiety, but here in her pasture, this is a sign of just-plain-feeling-good!! I wouldn’t want to ride it, but it is glorious to watch. She Peppy Le Pugh’s another circle around Flash, then catching sight of Chile she heads toward him, maybe he’ll play! Chili stands his ground and watches her foolishness as Lakota slides to a stop on a bare patch of ground in front of him. Every out-breath is visible, producing a mini cloud at the end of her nose. She puts her head down and sniffs the dirt. I make a guess that she is looking for a good place to roll. But no, in total awe I watch her. Once again she smells the earth, bends in half and launches straight up ~ twisting in mid air she lands facing the other direction! It must have felt good because she instantly leaps into the air again. Whoa, I have never seen her do that before. Then she daintily paws the earth, takes a few strides towards the river, drops her head and begins grazing. End of show. Like it never even happened.

I set there for a moment in awe. If I had even blinked at the wrong moment I would have missed the whole show. I thank God once again for letting me spend this time on this land with my horse. I am totally, outrageously blessed.

I dive back under my comforter and lay there grinning. That’s my girl. She’s 100% fox trotter, ½ race horse, ¼ coyote, and ¼ bucking bronco ~ with a dash of love sick skunk thrown in. The way I figure it, that’s about 210% of mostly trouble!! But she sure is cute, she’s paid for, and she’s mine!!

Yep, this is gonna be a good day!!

from Annette