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\n\t\t<\/div>\nIt was just before 9:00, Monday morning, when I pulled my SUV into the parking space beside Donna Horton\u2019s car. A morning fog hung over the mountainside as Socks and Shadow waited in their stalls. Donna stood in Socks\u2019 stall brushing off caked dirt and mud from her horse while several kittens ate breakfast from a huge bowl near the grain barrels. Before long, farrier Kenny Bellis<\/a> pulled his vehicle into the space just in front of the barn.<\/p>\nPulling shoes marked the end of riding season and signaled winters approach. Anne would have been there but she had to work unexpectedly and asked me to sub for her. Donna brought Socks out of his stall and Kenny went right to work. The shoes came off quickly. He skillfully filed the hooves, evening the rough edges. Before long it was my turn to get Shadow, bring him out of his stall and hold the horse so the farrier could take off the metal shoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo how has everything been for you Kenny?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusy, we went to the Congress in Columbus, Ohio for about a week.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Quarter Horse Congress?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYah, it was great. They have all kinds of venders there. Events are going on constantly for weeks. I bought three air pads at a very reasonable price.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard it\u2019s supposed to be really exciting,” I said as I tapped Shadow on the muzzle for nibbling at my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust let him chew on the leather lead. It calms him,\u201d said Donna and Kenny simultaneously. I took their advice and the horse immediately relaxed.<\/p>\n
The sun\u2019s warmth infiltrated the barn and the thick fog rose into the sky. Two kittens scampered past Shadow and made their way outside to the log pile. Kenny picked up Shadow’s hoof, pulled the shoe and smoothed the edges with his file.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know I was riding the other day and Cassandra stopped her truck to speak to me. She said the goat<\/a> was getting more and more aggressive and suffered a broken jaw,\u201d said Donna.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, that\u2019s too bad, but I\u2019m not surprised,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoxy just doesn\u2019t act like a nanny goat. She\u2019s more like a Billy goat, and that\u2019s probably from a hormonal imbalance of some kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLady had something like that once. She would growl and kick the side of her stall. The vet said it might have been tumors on her uterus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Roxy is certainly aggressive with the horses and chasing us,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCassandra said she took Roxy to a goat sanctuary, so no more Roxy. They may remove her bloated utters which might help reduce the aggression,\u201d said Donna.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven’t seen Roxy for weeks and wondered what happened to her. I\u2019m glad the goat found a good home and won\u2019t be chasing us down the street anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThat goat was a handful,\u201d said Donna.<\/p>\n
Kenny finished pulling the shoes and we wished him well. Donna returned Socks to his pasture and I lead Shadow through the barn and released him back to his pasture buddies in the field. I put a halter on Pepper, brought her into the barn, saddled up, and then we rode up Oakfield Drive. I planned to circle around the block past the Slocums, but when I reached Highland Drive a barricade crossed the street with a sign that read \u2018Road Closed\u2019. In the distance, I heard heavy earthmoving machinery and decided to take another route back to the barn.<\/p>\n
For several days all the sky gave us was rain. On Thursday morning, dark, low hanging clouds threatened more drizzly rain, but by afternoon the clouds departed replaced by clear skies. The afternoon sparkled as orange and red leaves caught the sun\u2019s rays and filled the hills with a radiant glow. I threw my tack in the back of my SUV and drove to the stables, found CJ and saddled up for a ride. I thought, \u2018might as well head up past the Slocum\u2019s since Roxy isn\u2019t there anymore.\u2019 <\/p>\n
I reined CJ towards Weaver Road turned up Bobcat Lane and entered the park. We slipped into the woods. Leaves blanked the trail, covering puddles and concealing mudding patches. Wind from the rainy days denuded some of the trees, but the forest still glowed yellow, orange and red catching the pink in the late afternoon light. The sun vanished over the edge of the mountain, and the woods were quiet except for the gentle fall of the horse\u2019s hooves; nothing stirred, not even the wind.<\/p>\n
Since I didn\u2019t have to worry about the goat, I circled back and headed for the barn down Weaver Road towards the Slocum place. When I rode toward their pasture, floating through the twilight came the familiar bleating of a goat, like a distant memory. I glanced across the pasture where a group of horses waited to go into their stalls for the night; just outside the indoor arena. Behind the arena\u2019s gate, I saw a goat pacing back and forth and heard her familiar bleating. I took a deep breath and rode on thinking, \u2018Roxy is back!\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was just before 9:00, Monday morning, when I pulled my SUV into the parking space beside Donna Horton\u2019s car. A morning fog hung over the mountainside as Socks and Shadow waited in their stalls. Donna stood in Socks\u2019 stall … Continue reading
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