Titchy Reindeer
Well-Known Member
Well after my horses being perfect since September when I first got both of them at home, their halo has slipped a little.
Sunday, I found them on the wrong side of the fence with no clue as to how they got through, so changed them fields until I could sort it out. Then yesterday, I picked up Little Madam in the trailer and took her to the riding school to use the sand school and lights, as I have been doing for months now. I left the Old Lady in the field with her head in a bucket and a trug of hay for after. Anyway, I was riding Little Madam when my parents showed up at the riding school. Uh oh! Old Lady had escaped. A kind man had knocked on my parents door to say he had seen a horse in a blue rug in direction of X village. No idea how he knew my parents were in any way connected to said horse, but glad he did. My parents then checked the field, which was obviously empty and drove off in the direction given. They couldn't find her so came to get me.
Little Madam has never been untacked and chucked in the trailer so fast! Some friends at the riding school and my instructor set off to help look for the Old Lady and another acquaintance and the instructor's daughter hopped in with me and we also set off in search, with trailer and Little Madam in tow. No luck along the "main" road, so decided to try the lanes on the way back. Bad idea! Managed to get the trailer stuck in a field trying to turn around in a dead end. Unloaded pony, unhitched trailer and started pushing and pulling... At that point, I got a phone call from my friend saying Old Lady was back in her field - she definitely wasn't there earlier! Almost immediately afterwards, I got a call from an unknown number from a lady in the village saying she had just seen a horse run past her window, so the Old Lady had probably just returned to the field.
Finally got the trailer unstuck, loaded pony back and took her home to meet up with Old Lady in yet another field. I'm just so glad she didn't have or cause an accident in the dark. And so grateful so many people were willing to help me find her.
Looking at her field, it appears the Old Lady burst through the entrance which was secured with those coiled wire thingies. The handles are still attached to the post and it looks like she went through with enough speed/strength to unravel the key ring style attachments that connected the wire to the handles. The coiled wires have sprung back and wrapped around the hedge on the opposite side of the gateway. She has never even touched these before and has been left on her own plenty of times. I can only speculate that something spooked her badly enough to send her through the fencing and running off in a direction she's never been in before in the dark. She must have traveled a fair distance before calming down and working her way back - also amazing as she doesn't really know the area. She was soaking under her rug, but appears uninjured.
The plan now is for prevention and mitigation. Prevention: It looks like I'm going to be spending most of my upcoming free time fencing fields... I'm also going to get a proper gate (wood or metal) for the field in question. Mitigation: I've already ordered reflective tape to put on both girls' rugs. I'm also going to get them some of those silicone dog tags with my contact details on and I'm looking at GPS trackers but struggling to find one that fits my needs (long life, waterproof, not too expensive, long range). If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know.
Sunday, I found them on the wrong side of the fence with no clue as to how they got through, so changed them fields until I could sort it out. Then yesterday, I picked up Little Madam in the trailer and took her to the riding school to use the sand school and lights, as I have been doing for months now. I left the Old Lady in the field with her head in a bucket and a trug of hay for after. Anyway, I was riding Little Madam when my parents showed up at the riding school. Uh oh! Old Lady had escaped. A kind man had knocked on my parents door to say he had seen a horse in a blue rug in direction of X village. No idea how he knew my parents were in any way connected to said horse, but glad he did. My parents then checked the field, which was obviously empty and drove off in the direction given. They couldn't find her so came to get me.
Little Madam has never been untacked and chucked in the trailer so fast! Some friends at the riding school and my instructor set off to help look for the Old Lady and another acquaintance and the instructor's daughter hopped in with me and we also set off in search, with trailer and Little Madam in tow. No luck along the "main" road, so decided to try the lanes on the way back. Bad idea! Managed to get the trailer stuck in a field trying to turn around in a dead end. Unloaded pony, unhitched trailer and started pushing and pulling... At that point, I got a phone call from my friend saying Old Lady was back in her field - she definitely wasn't there earlier! Almost immediately afterwards, I got a call from an unknown number from a lady in the village saying she had just seen a horse run past her window, so the Old Lady had probably just returned to the field.
Finally got the trailer unstuck, loaded pony back and took her home to meet up with Old Lady in yet another field. I'm just so glad she didn't have or cause an accident in the dark. And so grateful so many people were willing to help me find her.
Looking at her field, it appears the Old Lady burst through the entrance which was secured with those coiled wire thingies. The handles are still attached to the post and it looks like she went through with enough speed/strength to unravel the key ring style attachments that connected the wire to the handles. The coiled wires have sprung back and wrapped around the hedge on the opposite side of the gateway. She has never even touched these before and has been left on her own plenty of times. I can only speculate that something spooked her badly enough to send her through the fencing and running off in a direction she's never been in before in the dark. She must have traveled a fair distance before calming down and working her way back - also amazing as she doesn't really know the area. She was soaking under her rug, but appears uninjured.
The plan now is for prevention and mitigation. Prevention: It looks like I'm going to be spending most of my upcoming free time fencing fields... I'm also going to get a proper gate (wood or metal) for the field in question. Mitigation: I've already ordered reflective tape to put on both girls' rugs. I'm also going to get them some of those silicone dog tags with my contact details on and I'm looking at GPS trackers but struggling to find one that fits my needs (long life, waterproof, not too expensive, long range). If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know.
