Oh my aching back!

And it's not just my back.

Yesterday, as I was preparing for my meeting which starts on Monday, I got a call about 12:30 pm from MT, our feed guy. MT also happens to be our neighbor. He was driving by the house with a load of feed, and he noticed Major on the wrong side of the fence. He called to say that since Cleo is in heat, he surmised that Major knocked the gate off and that's how the horses got out. He told me that he just put Major in the barn and Cleo was fine. "And the gelding?" I asked, "Did you just put him in the paddock with her, or back in the barn?" He said, "Gelding? You had a gelding there, too?"

Nearly six hours later, after an exhaustive search by B and I, M (the horses' owner), her friend M, and about 6 of our neighbors (most of whom we first spoke to on this occassion and by then had become quite well-acquainted), we found him. He was about 3/4 mile up the road, about 2 fields back from the main road, munching on corn stalks. He was just staring at us, as if to say, "Hey guys! Good to see you!" It took four people on foot, and two cars to get back there and TO him, and M rode him home. Thank goodness he was dog tired!

The gate did need some fixing, which I took care of this morning. I could hardly lift the gate, I was so exhausted and sore. I can't even imagine how many acres we covered yesterday, or how many times over we covered the same acreage.

Not only that, but when I got the call, I dropped everything at work and came home. I left my desk in disarray, my laptop open and on my desk, and of course, my projects unfinished. I had to go back after that, and ended up not leaving work until nearly midnight.

Isn't it a good thing I love them so much?! What we do for our furry friends...