To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Get the boy a Rubix Cube!

Yesterday evening when I went down to the barn to turn the horses out on pasture, my husband's old cutting horse was already out. I suspected that my son had not properly secured his stall door after cleaning Sammy's stall yesterday morning. But when I looked, the clip was ON the business end of the sliding L-bolt of Sammy's door; apparently Lance had managed to work the bolt and snap backwards through the narrow opening!
Sammy's door latches above; Lance's latches below
Last night Rick scrounged up a larger snap for Sammy's door, plus a chain to secure it to the other end of the slider bolt. That way the door can only open so far even if Lance manages to work the bolt and snap through the opening again. For good measure, we also clipped the double-ended snap on Lance's door to the chain.
Lance's door on left; Sammy's on the right

This is what I found when I went to the barn this morning:

Lance had managed to unsnap the clip from Sam's slider bolt. Seriously?!? Does this horse have an opposable thumb on his tongue???

I found a bigger snap for Sam's door. If Lance can undo this, I think a padlock may be in order. It would only be a matter of time until he figured out a combination lock....

8 comments:

Briana said...

WOW! He's got talent! Too bad it comes out in the area of escaping! :)

Mary said...

Busy boy! He wants to work at *something*. Nick took out some vertical rebars the first month I had him. He now has metal flanges on all flat surfaces and a hanging toy.

Michelle said...

I'm crossing my fingers that he will develop talent in other areas!

Michelle said...

Lance has a hanging toy and a Jolly Ball, and a next door neighbor, and a paddock that looks out over the pasture....

Alanna M said...

I was just going to ask about a Jolly Ball and lickit. Too funny! He does have a busy mouth. Is he mouthy with you?

Michelle said...

Yes, he wants to use his mouth all the time, but at least he's not nippy. He used to have to hold something - lead rope, brush, rein - in his mouth, but that has been getting a little better.

Theresa said...

Give him a goat! ;) The two can share escapade notes....
Seriously, can you bar in the stall opening or give him his pown set of latches and such inside to play with. Those busy young horses keep us on our toes, but I bet Sammy appreciated the little help with the escape.

Unknown said...

Sounds like young Lance has a nimble mind as well as nimble lips. I've made up dog busy toys before, but never much thought about horse busy toys. It sounds like the normal stuff isn't enough for Lance, he wants more stimulation. You might as well start teaching him tricks, I bet it wouldn't take him long to learn 'carry' and 'fetch'.