Prior to the boys waking this morning I used their bathroom, I hadn't turned the light on as it was beginning to become daylight and there is a window.
Out of the corner of my eye I see this...
Followers may recall the day Merlin shut Pippin in the barn, since then I periodically look back to be sure nothing like that happens again. The boys left around 5ish, I know the Mini's were both up at the barn around 3ish as Jefferson & I were watching them thru the slider for a bit after his nap.
Once they leave for home, I go out to clean their stall, Pippin greeted me. I hear Merlin whinny from out back, which isn't odd. I figured he was saying hello while on his way in from the field. I stepped out of the barn and beyond their windbreak to greet him. He's standing at the closed gate between the paddock and field! 😳 I think WTF that gate is always open! I of course I went back & opened it for him, I then secured the latch to keep it open, went back into the barn and started thinking. That gate is kept open with a chain thru the fence, the chain is then attached thru a slat on the gate itself. Last time it'd been messed with was last week when the trimmer was here & I'd wanted easy access to them when she arrived. It's a pain to do, and I always make sure it's secure giving it a pull & a shake, as we do get a lot of wind and I don't want anyone stuck somewhere as it once happened to Camryn. I realize we're loosing light so I go out to look about...
Footprints on the outside of the fence! The prints weren't at the side gate where you'd enter the field from outside. We'd had snow on and off Sunday, during the night and thruout the day. They came from the neighbors camper then outside the paddock fence. This section of fence is no climb & no electric, the corners are secure enough for a person to climb. With the Mini's always traversing the paddock, I couldn't make out foot prints other than theirs. I'm thinking what's going on, nothing missing in the barn, Merlin is out of place & that's it. I decide to go next door, if the girls had been over petting the Mini's after school, the footprints are at least explained. If not, they need to know someone's possibly been possibly scoping out our barns & their camper. One of the girls said she had visited the boyz, but it had been yesterday afternoon & we'd had at least an inch of snow since then. Do these tracks appear recent?
I'm baffled, I don't keep any tack in the barn, the Mini cart & ATV are back there, the ATV I've got pretty much stuck for the winter surrounded by many 75lb bags of bedding. And why/how did Merlin get stuck in the field? Yes, they could've undone the chain but, it's highly doubtful seeing as I with thumbs have a difficult time with it, who's footprints? Jeez, I hate this, all the doors save the man door are locked at night, I'll be locking that now as well. Hate doing that in case of barn fire as I'd have to remember to grab the key. Kind of creeped out! 😖
I wonder if it's some know-it-all from the horse training facility who thinks she's doing the horses a favor by separating them because they "fight"?
ReplyDeleteMy creepy neighbor at my old house used to sneak over and open up the gate to let my horses out as a form of revenge because I reported them to Animal Control for not fixing their gate and allowing their horses to get loose and tear up my lawn over a period of a year. The guy was a handyman/contractor. I'm sure he made trips to the hardware store all the time and could have easily fixed that gate, but was just too lazy and didn't care if my lawn and sprinkler system suffered the consequences. His horses broke sprinkler heads and left divots from galloping around. My good neighbor even went over there and showed him how he can fix it, and he still didn't do anything about it. But their son had the energy to sneak over to my place and open up my gate so that my horses would get loose.
Neighbors sure can be painful. still adjusting to our newest. There's been some issues in nearby town with vehicles being broken into. Have a feeling they may be trying out the country.
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