Wednesday, March 30, 2016

listening to what they say

Today when I fed Keil Bay his mid-day tub I put hay out for the herd and came back to his stall to see if he was finished. He was, but instead of going to his back door to be turned out with his pals he came and stood with me, curving his neck to my hands, standing quietly while I rubbed his neck.

When I stepped toward the back door he walked to his front stall door and touched it with his nose. He was asking for some time to himself in the barnyard, and some time with me as well.

I opened the front stall door and out he went. We made a pile of hay for him in the shade and I got the shedding blade and a brush and watched as c-shaped packets of Keil Bay fur floated off the blade and into the breeze with every pass.

The first tick of 2016 made its appearance, which required me to empty last year's tick jar and prepare it for this new year. A little Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and water and in went the brown dog tick.

I checked Keil all over but there were no more to be found. Checked his ears and face and then sprayed him with the mix of fly spray I made up a few weeks ago. He was happy to have his time in the barnyard and chose to remain there when I came inside. 

The donkeys are not happy about that and are braying off and on to let me know one of their herd members is "missing."

In a little while I'll go serve the next round of hay and see if Keil is ready to rejoin his buddies. 

It's a sweet day on November Hill. 

4 comments:

Matthew said...

Ahh, tick season :(

Grey Horse Matters said...

Keil Bay sounds like a horse who knows what he wants and how to communicate it to you so it becomes a reality. If only more people could learn to listen to what their horses are trying to tell them.

I don't even want to think about how bad tick season will be here after the warm winter. Ugh!

billie said...

Matthew, I know. Ugh.

billie said...

Arlene, he is such a sweetheart.

Let's hope the ticks aren't too terribly bad. For us April is usually the worst month and then it drops off quite a bit through the summer. Here's hoping!