This is my buddy, Durango. It seems he is under house arrest. He is accused of destroying the watering system at the barn. He and Ben were in the pasture when it happened, and the only ones with access to the destroyed parts. Since he has a history of tearing things up, he was the one locked up for the crime. 

        This is all that is left of the complicated, insulated watering system to the barn. It is the system that supplied water to the outside water trough. If you look closely, you will see two faucets that were taken out as well as several breaks in the pvc pipe. It has been completely destroyed. 
        That is our almost barn cat, Jekyll, photobombing the damage. 

    The whole thing had to be capped off inside the barn. Apparently when the damage was discovered, I was under it enjoying the impromptu waterfall in the 95 degree weather. This is hearsay, because there are no photos to document this accusation.  The Keeper swears I was behind the whole thing and put Durango up to doing it all.  

      I really don't see how anyone could think that of such an innocent old guy like me. That shower sure felt good though!  Happy Trails To You! 

        Well I went to put up a new post and realized that the whole post did not go up last time. I guess I just left everyone hanging for the past couple of days. What a cliffhanger, heh? 
        Okay,  here is the story. We had just come off an entire month of flooding and raining. The Keeper went and bought a truck load of those little pellets made up of sawdust to help dry up the barn.  When those things open up, they make the softest sawdust bed that this old horse just loves. Tuck some damp sand under them to make it cool and it is heaven for these old bones. 
         With this in mind, let me paint you a picture of how it all began. With the sawdust all over the barn, I had to pick the softest spot for my sleepy time. That took a long time because I had to try out many places. Because of my age and who I am, the keeper lets me roam the barn at night and choose which stall I would like to sleep in for the night. Well on that particular night, the softest spot was not in a stall but in the alleyway. Right in the big middle of everything. So when the Keeper came out to feed, I was kind of in the way. Oh, all right, totally in the way. I was so comfortable I didn't want to move. Check out the picture below. Don't I look comfortable?  

         So the Keeper made me get up much to my personal chagrin. I must admit I was a little bit ticked even though she put me out to graze on green grass.  I'm generally pretty good when she does that, but this time I was looking for mischief or payback if you will. 
        The Keeper had closed the gates to the street like she always does when she lets me out and I've been such a good boy that she didn't seat the gate or put the lock back on. I saw this was my opportunity to get back at her for making me get up and see if the grass was really greener on the other side. I pushed the gate open while she was feeding and took off to the street. 
        Well the street was not it was cracked up to be, that thing is hard and hurts my feet so I went back to the grass and just grazed my way down the road. As a matter of fact, I heard the Keeper tell someone that I had left a trail  in the grass from my grazing. Did not know the Keeper was also a tracker, huh. 
         Anyway, as I was grazing this funny looking vehicle pulls up with all these flashy lights. He looked like he was in a hurry to get somewhere, but stopped close to me.  I didn't really care at the time, I had found a wonderful patch of clover that I was really enjoying. I glanced at him and he was talking into one of those small boxes that everyone seems to have these days. Right about then the Keeper shows up. She tells me to behave myself and comeback to the barn. She used a rope around my neck to make sure I complied. I was surprised, she generally just tells me where to go and I do it.  As we were walking back to the barn, the Keeper explained to me that horses just can't run wild in the town, that they get picked up and taken to horsey jail. Someone had called in my escape and I was almost a horsey jailbird. 
       The Keeper kept me from going to horsey jail, that's a good thing. I almost had a police record at age 40. Boy, that was close, Next time maybe I will get up when the Keeper asks me to and not have such an attitude. Or it could just depend on how comfy I am. We will have to wait and see. 
Happy Trails To You!  
PS.  I have included a pic of my jailbreak. Notice I am on the wrong side of the fence. Hee Hee!

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     Well, besides the weather we have had a few things going on this week. My barn mate, Ben was having issues. He went down and the Keeper had to stay with him all Sunday night to keep him up and make sure he didn't hurt himself. It seems he has a case of swelling on the brain. No one can figure out what caused it, he has had all his vaccines and there was no outward sign of any injuries. He was put on medication for five days to reduce the swelling and it seems to have worked. He is feeling fit as a fiddle now. He was even flirting with Lola. The vet said if he relapses we will have to keep him on the medications. The Keeper stocked up and has plenty on hand. Situation handles so far, but was exhausting figuring it all out. 
       I wasn't helping the stress level at the barn. I stopped eating for three days. The Keeper was worried sick. She tried tempting me with everything that used to be my favorites. I really didn't feel like eating any of them. She has been allowing me out to eat grass on the weekends and I think I should be allowed out to eat grass everyday. So what if we don't have a lot of grass. I want it when I want it.  I also have gotten into the habit of stealing chicken feed.  
      The Keeper had the vet look at me and he declared me healthy. Bummer man!  Now the Keeper is not falling for my starving act. We did reach a nice compromise though. When she gives me my sweet feed and hay, she sprinkles a handful of chicken feed on it as a top dressing. Today she actually brought and added some black oil sunflower seeds to the mix. Yummy, Yummy.  The vet said feed me what I will eat and I am taking full advantage of that. You should try some sunflower seeds, they are a great summer snack. Happy Trails To You! 

   We  have flooded once again. We have never had to deal with this much water, ever before.  It is crazy. On a good note our barn was like an island in all of this and our stalls stayed nice and dry due to constant sand bagging and trenching by the Keeper.  We have one day off and now we have another week of storms coming at us.  I'm just glad we didn't have any tornadoes hit us. I am not that crazy about flying!  Keep dry and Happy Trails to You! 

Happy Trails To You!