The Tree

I'm still chuckling a little about Ace's walkabout yesterday. He was much more relaxed and did less rearing and frisking around. We grazed and explored up along the paddock, then down the drive. I noticed he was giving the horse trailer parked in the lawn the "hairy eyeball", so we went over to take a closer look. He walked up to it, gaining confidence from me, and we walked around the back. As we turned the second corner, Ace had an "Oh Shit" moment.

All of a sudden, his legs went in every direction and he squatted low to the ground and swapped ends. At first I couldn't tell what spooked him, but when he stood back up he sort of cowered and looked up... Ooohhh the TREE! He was so busy looking at the trailer, he didn't realise until it was too late that he had walked under the low hanging pin oak tree right beside the trailer. A pin oak always tries to reach down and touch the ground with the lower branches, so it is trimmed at about 6 feet from the ground and it's dense limbs are still full of golden chestnut colored leaves spreading in a solid, tent like canopy.

"It's OK Ace, it's just a tree... can you touch it?" Ace reached up warily and sniffed the leaves. Lucky for him the oak tree turned out to be a peaceful creature. He had much less of a reaction to the firewood covered in billowing plastic. That big hulking mass of leaves that came close to swallowing him was much more surprising. You should see the holes and skid marks he left in the lawn.

After our walk I brought him into the cross ties and half tied him with my husband's help. Tim held Ace's second tie while I groomed. I found that Ace loves the inside of his hind legs scratched. He was very steady and stood still seeming to really enjoy his grooming. I don't think it will be long until he will be used to the routine and I will be able to cross tie him myself without incident. In fact, I've never seen him stand in one place that long... ever. He has been in perpetual motion since the day he was born. Oh, by the way, this is his seven month birthday today. Happy Birthday Ace!