Check The Gates EVERYDAY

Because my gelding can be somewhat of a Houdini we keep all of our exterior gates locked.  We have a gate that goes from the pasture to the arena and we frequently unlock this gate to move the horses into the arena so that we can work uninterrupted in the pasture.  When I arrived home from camping last weekend the mares were in the arena while my hubby was working out in the field.

The next day the farrier came.  I had to leave mid-appointment and he was kind enough to put the horses back in the pasture for me.  Imagine my surprise when I came home to horses standing in the arena.  Weird…why would the farrier put them out there?  Upon further review I saw the gate between pasture and arena flung open…even weirder, he doesn’t know where we keep the key.

 

The hubs and I backtracked our steps from the day before and realized that after I arrived home, we greeted one another, I unloaded my horse, we moved the mares back and closed the adjoining gate but in the commotion of my arrival we were distracted and forgot to put the lock back on said gate.

So less than 24 hours later, my boy had figured out that the gate was in fact not locked and let the other horses out.  I suppose it could have been one of the other horses, but he has a history so I’m pretty sure we all know who the culprit is.  He is regular gate checker because I’ve seen him  nudge a gate here, lean on a fence there searching for the weakness that opens up to the big wide world.

What amazes me about all this, is that 364 days of the year that gate is locked.   The ONE day it was not, he found it.  That means that either, it was a huge coincidence and he got lucky OR he checks the gates every single day.

Here’s to persistence!