Room with a view?

A little post I had written on my lunch hour at work back in November.  I had intended to post it after I got home from the barn that night, but that was the night I discovered Wayne's knee was giving out, and I knew I had to put him down.  So I was far too upset to even think about posting.  I found it while cleaning out my email today, so thought that I would share.  I still miss that little bugger........

Room with a view?

Unfortunately, no, Wayne's stall doesn't have a window to the outside world. The only stalls with windows are the ones across the aisle from him, and the windows are a little too high up for him to see out anyway.


Airs above the ground?

Not that that would stop him from looking out it, if his behavior in the past is any indication! The window in his stall when we boarded at Scheid's was too high for him to look out, but that didn't matter. If the window's too high, just stand up to look out it! I can't count the number of times he'd hear something outside, and go check his window, which gave him a nice view of the pasture. It was a pretty comical sight to see Wayne standing on his hind legs, front legs tucked and resting against the wall for balance, while he peered out the window to keep tabs on things. Of course, I never had a camera handy when I needed it.

But I guess when you're short, you find ways to make up for it. A little too smart for his own good at times. When he was stuck inside because somebody was turned out in the pasture at Scheid's that he couldn't be out with, it wasn't uncommon for him to stand straight up and pop his head up over the top of the wall to try to see what was going on in the pasture from time to time. Or, since they had open front stalls, he'd stand up on his hind legs, rest his tucked front legs against the top of the stall front, and hang his head out into the aisle to try to get a better look outside. Use the window to check one side of the pasture, hang out into the aisle to check the other side of the pasture. That one used to freak people out, because they always thought he was trying to jump out of his stall! Freaked me out the first few times too, till I figured out he was just having a look outside, then going back about his business.


Two step anyone?



I should have made him a trick pony. He can do a pretty nice Levade, just not on cue. Not only is he good at standing up, but he used to be good at kneeling down too. I haven't seen him do it much in the past 3 or 4 years, I think because of his bad knee, but in the past it wasn't uncommon to see him kneeling all the way down on his knees and reaching his head as far under the fence as possible to eat, because the grass is always greener on the other side! When his previous owner still had him and kept him in a tie stall, Wayne discovered the hole in the front of his stall under his manger by the floor, and we often caught him kneeling down and reaching through that hole to help himself to the hay on the other side. There was never any chaff laying on the floor in front of his stall. It was always licked clean in a nice little semi circle around that hole!

So probably a good thing he doesn't have a window in his stall right now! Just the hay door in the bars so he can hang his head out in the aisle to see what's going on.

I didn't do anything.....