escape artist/one horse wrecking crew
This message is from: Laurie Pittman [EMAIL PROTECTED] While Tor has the same busy, nimble lips that all our fjords seem to have, his method of choice is brute strength. I've had to hot wire two walls on the inside of his stall. He was knocking them out with his enthusiastic scratching. You always know when he's in the barn, something is always creaking. Took the barn door off it's hinges once. He recently broke out of his fjord proof diet pen. At least I found out that the power to the fence was off. He sure didn't waste any time taking advantage of it! And was he happy to get out onto his pasture? N he then broke into Copper's paddock so he could go out onto his pasture. And he was quite proud of himself too. I wasn't catching him anytime soon. *sigh* Brat horse. Bet he was really annoyed to find the fence back on. G You should see the tantrums he throws in the morning when he thinks he should be let out. Bangs the gate, bucks, kicks, bellows, races around the pen, and starts all over again. Silly horse. Laurie in NW Washington
my escape artist
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Our two boys are a year apart, and half-brothers, also our first horses. Shortly after they arrived and we installed them on our 'horse proofed' property. My wife and I were awoken by an odd noise on the patio outside our bedroom window. My wife said what was that a deer? I said no, it sounds more like a horse. Sure enough the boys were out and about enjoying a midnight snack of our manicured lawn. From the hoof prints they had been out for some time. The older one who is the leader, had slid the bolt on his stall, and the barn door must not have been latched as it's bolt is on the outside. We live on a busy road where cars routinely exceed the 35 mph speed limit. Since then, I have never left the barn with out double checking all the bolts and gates. The older one also figured out that the hinge that serves as a jury-rigged kill switch on top of our log splitter is a fun toy. With the noisy engine chugging away as we split wood, he will saunter up, and nose the hinge over so that the engine dies. I guess it offends his ears.
Re: escape artist
This message is from: Lori Puster [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sue, To start with, is it normal for them to be so smart? It appears so. Mojave has a stall in my neighbor's barn that she can access from our pasture. It took her about two weeks to figure out how to open all of the latches. First she just let herself out. Then, a few days later, she let the neighbor's filly out to play with her. One morning we found she had swapped stalls with the gelding in the middle of the night. We tried tying the latches with bailertwine (the universal fix all), but Miss Nimble Lips untied them. I actually saw her do it one day while I was in the barn.g Now ALL of the latches have spring clip carabiners holding them shut. I suppose it's only a matter of time Bottom line: you've got to be smarter then your pets. What some people term a problem animal is often really an animal that is too smart for them. Personally I enjoy a challenge, even if that means changing the latches, reinforcing the fences and hotwiring EVERYTHING on an ongoing basis. I suspect most Fjord owners feel the same. But just like my Great Pyrenees dogs, Fjords are not for everyone. Maybe we should give prospective owners a quiz to test their problem solving skills? SAMPLE QUESTION: 1) You go out one morning to find your Fjord in the hayloft. You: a) Call the Fire Department (who come out and laugh themselves silly). b) Regret naming him Pegasus. c) Construct a scale model of the Great Pyramid at Giza out of hay bales as a ramp. d) Figure if he's smart enough to get up there, he's smart enough to get down. BTW, we finally named our filly--MoonWise Freyja. Lori P. MoonWise Farm Veneta OR
Re: escape artist
This message is from: Lori Albrough [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sue Harrison wrote: Hi again everyone. I thought I would share the latest antics of my yearling Fjord colt. To start with, is it normal for them to be so smart? They will test your horsekeeping for sure. When I got my first two yearling fillies I looked out on their first day outside, in what I considered to be a perfectly horseproof field, to see one of them walking along with the 50 lb fence-charger battery in her mouth. Don't ask me how she did it. It took us a while to fix all the the little loopholes they pointed out so aptly. Lori Albrough Moorefield Ontario
escape artist
This message is from: Sue Harrison [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi again everyone. I thought I would share the latest antics of my yearling Fjord colt. To start with, is it normal for them to be so smart? This little guy undid his snap off his halter wrapped the chain around his ankle and refastened the snap in a link of his chain...snugly so that my husband had to rescue him. He just stood there patiently waiting...no panic or anything...tied by one front foot..like a circus elephant. Then a couple of days ago he shot the bolt...apparently by an upper lip stuck between the bars on the top half of his boxstall door, pulled the door completely in towards him and then walked by it and was chewing on the back legs of my husbands Appaloosa gelding! I then tied bailertwine from the stainless 4 apart steel bars on the top of the gate to a steel ladder. I just went out to feed noon hay and met you-know-who in the door. Thank goodness the outside door was bolted from the outside! He had stuck his upper lip through the steel bars undid the bailertwine and then shot the bolt pulled the door in once more and was calmly playing in the hay behind the gelding! I have electric fence inside sheep pagewire fencing in his paddock...suppose he will dig under Hope everyone gets a laugh out of this and that you can share some funny stories. Sue in Canada
Re: More on the Great Escape artist...
This message is from: Jean Gayle [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wrong name for that Pepper, should be Houdini! Jean Gayle -Original Message- From: Doug Knutsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Saturday, March 27, 1999 8:15 PM Subject: More on the Great Escape artist... This message is from: Doug Knutsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi again - In our last episode we left our hero, Doug the Steadfast, nonplussed, he was heard to declare that the bolt alone was wedged in so tightly that Pepper would be unable to budge it. Stay tunedPeg Knutsen
More on the Great Escape artist...
This message is from: Doug Knutsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi again - In our last episode we left our hero, Doug the Steadfast, congratulating himself on having foiled Pepper the Intrepid's further attempts to get back into the log cabin. Recall that he jammed a bolt through the lock and screwed a nut onto it so tight that he wasn't sure even he of the Great Strenth could get it off. Wiping the dust from his hands, he left the field smiling with pride. The next morning Peg the Weary was picking the pasture while Doug was stringing a new piece of cross fencing. On his way back from that task, he happened to glance toward the cabin door and something shiny on the ground caught his attention. What could it be? Oh, the suspense! Imagine his surprise at discovering that the shiny object was the nut that he had screwed so tightly onto the lock bolt the day before! Nonplussed, he was heard to declare that the bolt alone was wedged in so tightly that Pepper would be unable to budge it. Stay tunedPeg Knutsen
