The school and boarding stable I had here in Las Cruces (started in 1982 at the Briarwood Dressage facility we built around the dome house I bought north of town) was at the back of a long field of alfalfa. My turn out for my own horses was the arena and boarders went out in the field that was fenced with black rubber fencing. The arena was made of 1 by 12 boards on 4x4 posts with one strand of electric fence on top that was only turned on when horses were loose inside.
I had all the school horses out one very windy day - 10 horses of varying ages, sizes and temperaments. I was mucking when the wind actually blew the top boards off of one line of fence, breaking the electric tape as well. One of my school horses was a retired open jumper named Smokie (Holy Smoke) who was the only equine that did not jump the lower boards and gallop off across the country side! He looked at me as if he knew he wasn't supposed to leave - I yelled at him to "stay" and took off after my disappearing herd of 9! One of those wildly galloping bay geldings was Halftone - the babysitter who could barely do a one mile an hour jog in a lesson... now leading the whole group down the road and through a large mobile home park set within an orchard. Zigzagging through trees and fenced yards, my herd stayed together and parents were grabbing their children from the swings and slides, holding tight to them. I was gasping for air, legs cramping as I tried to keep up (foolishly) with my horses.
They made their way around and turned back toward home. When I finally got to the barn - my neighbor (a young girl who took lessons from us and knew each of the horses) had put Smokie in his stall and was slowly catching the exhausted, sweating, just a bit too pleased with themselves school string. We pulled their water and started rubbing them down, offering small drinks until they had all cooled. The wind kept howling. I thanked my neighbor profusely and never charged her for a lesson after that day.
Companions in my life always seem a bit impatient with my double and triple checking gates; wiring boards onto posts in addition to screws or nails; becoming edgy when the wind blows... and explanations are just kind of useless. For most of the experiences with horses in my life, you just "had to be there".
