Equine Escape Artist

Guided by the light of the full moon, Dixie and Susie had quite a night for themselves last night.  At least if the hoof prints and 'skid marks' in the lawn are any clue as to their activities!

The 'naughty one' has learned to open the latch on one of the gates.  In fact she escaped several days ago as Puss Puss and I were sitting out back reading.  THIS story goes, that Puss Puss wanted to go out with me and as was her habit of the last couple of weeks, she liked to wander far away from the house.  As weak as she was, off she would go.  It has been suggested to me that she was looking for a 'special place' for her last days {or day}, but I won't get into that right now.  She had made it about half way down the path to the barn, but there was some interesting noises coming from the barn, so she stopped and lay down.  Chuck, for some reason had left the front door to the barn {that leads down the hall to Dixie's stall, and also to the back door} open.  There is a dual gate that serves as the door to Dixie's stall, but when opened up the other way, it blocks the way out the back door of the barn.  Without this story getting too complicated, I will simply say that Dixie managed to injure an ankle bad enough a couple days previous, so that Chuck had to apply liniment and wrap her leg and she was walking pretty stiff legged.  When I heard all the noise and rattling around coming from the barn, I was afraid that she had lain down and couldn't get up.  By the time I went into the house and got my 'barn sneakers', I came out to find her outside, behind the barn eating grass!  {and Puss Puss was no where in sight}.  Since poor Dixie is still on her diet of Hay and Water, she didn't move from the grass she was eating, as I approached, and I was able to lead her back through the barn to the barn yard.  That was when I had discovered that she had "picked the lock", so to speak and unlatched the gate. 

Chuck didn't seem to think it would be an issue, since he seldom leaves the front barn door open anyway, so he didn't change the latch.  Sooooo, last night when he let them out after their evening meal, he decided to leave them both in the barn yard, rather than turning Susie out to the outer pasture, as we were having a big old thunder storm.  He also left the front barn doors open  so that they could get into their stalls out of the weather if they wanted. 

Well, at some point during the night, Dixie unlatched the gate and she and her Mama escaped and spent the night munching the fresh green grass of the lawn.  When Chuck and Gus went out the back door this AM to give them their carrots on their way to get the morning paper, they sorta met him at the back door!  LOL I think it is just hysterical that they were roaming the neighborhood in the middle of the night.  Now we just have to hope that Dixie doesn't get sick from eating grass all night.  Not a good thing, after having only hay to eat for several weeks.  She's a bit subdued, but so far seems fine.  Little sneak!

As for the whereabouts of Puss Puss the other day, when she disappeared while I captured Dixie.....for the second time in a few days, she had gone over to the neighbors place and was hiding out in his work shop.  These darling critters are always up to something....especially the 'naughty one'.  Hee hee.