Night Life

Herb came in tonight after putting Misty in the Home Pasture and shutting up the chickens in the barnyard, and he told me what had happened out there.  I decided I needed to check on everyone, so I got my strong flashlight and headed for the barnyard.

Misty heard someone moving near "her" pasture and came to see who it was.  She is one alert livestock guardian!  When she heard my voice, I got a friendly tail wag, and she came to the gate for a pat on the head.  Then she was off to patrol the pasture, barking thunderously at all and sundry.  I could follow her path through the black night by her resounding barks.

When Herb brought the horses up earlier this evening, he put Julie in the round pen and Angel and Brandy in the barnyard as usual.  Who should I find in the barnyard but Julie?  She was nibbling on the well-eaten grass.

Disturbed by my flashlight, the ducks came to catch any bugs that might be attracted by the light while Julie headed back toward the round pen.  She set off the motion sensor on one of the floodlights, and it flashed on.  (It was still pretty dark for my camera, though, so I helped the floodlight out a bit with iPhoto.)

I moved along to the round pen and said hi to Angel and Brandy.

Just then, Julie came into the round pen.  After all, it's been "hers" ever since she joined us in March!  Every time we tried to bring her into the barnyard for shelter from storms, Brandy attacked her and we had to put somebody in the stalls to keep them separate.  "But wait," you may be asking, "if you were separating the horses from the pony, how did Julie just come into the round pen from the barnyard?"

Hold your horses!  I'll tell you in a minute.  First things first . . . My camera was slow to focus in the dark, but here's the tail end (sorry!) of Brandy acting like a horse's patootie and chasing Julie out of the round pen.  It's Brandy's round pen now!

Done being a horses's rear end, Brandy joins Angel for a pat, ready for me to come into the round pen and inspect their remodeling job.

Here is Brandy showing off their handiwork, although according to Herb's eyewitness testimony from a couple of days ago, this is all Angel's work!  Yes, my sweet Angel finally managed to kick down the gate between the round pen and the barnyard, between Julie and the big girls.  Why did she do it?  For the greener grass on the other side of the fence?  Or did she hope Brandy might let her be with her little pet, Julie?  If you want the answer to that question, you'll have to get it straight from the horse's mouth!

At least I know now that Julie won't be murdered in the night!  I know from playing "CSI:"  A small, round, manure-y hoof print on each of the big girls' sides explains why everyone has settled down in the dark.  Julie has finally defended herself!

Good night, Julie.

Good night, Brandy.

Good night, Angel.
(Did you hear the one about what the black horse did in the middle of the night?
I didn't either--no one could see it to come up with a punch line!)

Good night, Sterling, man of leisure.

 Good night ducks, still catching flies.

Good night, Rascal, busy girl.  Good-bye, little mouse.  (If you show your face!)

Good night, pigs, somewhere down there in the dark, blissfully unaware that Misty just cleaned out your food bowls.  Good night, Misty, on the watch; you deserve your bedtime snack!

Back to the warm lights at home.  Good night, barnyard.  Good night, pasture.  Good night, noises everywhere.  Good night, animals, sleep tight.  Good night, farm, I love you.