War Wounds and Whinnies

It's Saturday and that means another trek out to Temecula to visit Danny. Again it was my mom, Kyla, and I, and again, it was toasty out there. I found out just how hot it was when poor Kyla started whining and doing the Hot Potato dance in the parking lot of our lunch destination. Today's lesson: No Temecula asphalt for puppy. Check!

When we got to Endar and I pulled Danny out of his pasture, I noticed he was quite different this time. Last week he was calm and reserve with two bite marks. This time he was bright eyed and war wounded. He's lost one front shoe and worn down the hoof while the other hoof still has the shoe and his toe is extra long. The only way I can relate the visual is a woman walking barefoot with one foot and sporting a platform sandal on the other foot. He has quite a few more battle scars and war wounds, predominately on his rear end. I figure this means one of two things: He's standing his ground more and poorly defending himself against his pasture bully OR the poor guy just isn't getting away fast enough from Jaws.

As my mom and I walked Danny and Kyla to the barn, Danny's gimpy walk was overshadowed when he started whinnying to the horses in the other pastures. No, I take that back. He wasn't whinnying. He was SCREAMING!!! So much so that the groom pulling some of the training horses out of their pastures and into the barn couldn't even control his rearing and spooking horse that Danny was "helping" behave in a lovely manner. I truly felt sorry for the groom as the horse gave him a hell of a time on the long journey back to the barn.

As usual, I hosed Danny off and quickly realized he has a lovely new scent. I like to call it "Eau de Nasty, Stinky Pasture Horse." It's somewhere between a sweaty horse and a dirty, wet dog. After a lengthy shower, I went to groom Danny and discovered your friendly neighborhood Praying Mantis on his shoulder. That was a first for me but I guess everyone needs to hitch a ride to somewhere.

Our walk with Danny was cut short due in part to his "flat tire" (AKA one shoe) and since the grooms fed dinner early. It's not like at Rancho when you can keep your horse out during feeding time without a care in the world. Now if I was to keep him away from his precious dinner, it will quickly be devoured by the extra fat pasture bully. So my mom and I sat under the tree in the grass by the pasture, watching Danny graze and playing with Kyla.

So I've found that each visit to see Danny is more different than the last. I hope he continues to enjoy his new retired life and I pray he moves up in the rankings among his pasture mates. But all I really want is for Danny to still recognize me when I walk up to the pasture and whistle for him. I want the spunky, wild boy that's a lovebug one minute and a complete booger the next. I want Danny to stay Danny. Only time will tell...