It's a ..... what?

I needed some horse time today so I decided to bring each horse over to the Lodge for a brushing.  I caught Jesse in the corral and headed for the hitchrack in our front yard.  Before we could get there, I had WILD horse on my hands.  What's that on the front porch???  She was swinging around me, snorting and tail raised.  There was a monster in the corner waving its arms and about to jump out at us.  Gotta get away; gotta kill it; gotta do something!  OK, it was a three foot tall mum plant we had inherited the night before from a wedding celebration at the neighboring lodge.  Try explaining that to an irate Mustang.  As soon as I could quit laughing I asked Bill to walk the plant out into the parking lot for us.  He set it down; Jesse did an immediate sniff and investigate, stuck her face in the air with an, "Oh, it's a bush - not even edible."

Wow.  Some excitement. Let's try another horse.  Brushed Jesse, returned her to the corral, and collected Washoe.  Got all the way to the hitchrack and dufus hadn't noticed a thing.  Not surprising.  After all, this is Washoe we are talking about.  So, I go get the plant and set it down by the mounting stumps.  Suddenly, whooooa.  What's that? (He noticed.)  I untie him from the rack and walk him over to the plant with a good show of Arab behavior.  This time, Bill had the camera and we both had some good laughs.  Washoe finally agreed it was just a plant - and non edible.  Go figure; he will usually eat anything that won't eat him first.

Alright, we're on a roll.  Next horse.  Estes was waiting at the gate when I took Washoe back, so she was the next candidate.  (Want to make any bets, Tel?)  Now, the plant is still sitting near the mounting stumps, and she notices before we get across the road.  Monster!!!!  I have to coax her the rest of the way off the road.  Bill is ready with the camera (and I think she noticed).  Suddenly, she's in the "I-can-handle-this mode" and chooses to make eye contact with the "thing", arches her cute little neck in the air and let's me walk her over to it, sort of staying behind me as much as possible.  She bravely reaches out and touches it on command, and again we have the "Oh, it's not even edible."

Three down, one to go.  Ranger is the one who usually has fits with this stuff, so we were ready to help him do battle.  Bill brought him across the street.  We had returned the plant to the corner because guests were arriving, so Bill walked Ranger right over to the edge of the porch.  No reaction.  Bill walks Ranger right up to the plant, under the porch roof.  Ranger walks right over to the plant, takes a sniff and looks at Bill.  No further reaction.  Wow, the scary Mustang says, "It's just a plant.  What's the big deal?"

You just never know with horses!

Wah-knee-tah
(She forgot to sign her blog, so I did it for her...Bill)

 Special thanks to The Flower House (www.theflowerhouseweddings.com) for the mums!