Alternate titles for this post could include:
- Penchant for Mischief
- Can’t Fence Me In
- How to Give Your Human a Heart Attack
- Perhaps I Should Just Take Up Alcoholism
- Momma’s Little Shit
- Ain’t Got No Sense
- WHY HORSE WHY
But they really all mean one thing: Presto is a devious little turd.
I can check Presto’s stall cameras on my phone, and there for a while I was doing it pretty obsessively. I am more than a little traumatized from his first few weeks of life when he was literally on the brink of death while fighting chlostridium, so when he came home I kept a really close eye on him through the cameras. I even used to set an alarm on my phone at night so I could wake up and check on him and make sure he still looked ok. And really, he’s looked great. I’ve kinda learned his patterns now as far as when and how long he sleeps, when he’s more active, how often he nurses, etc.
Over the past week I’ve tried to wean myself off of checking him so frequently, and even stopped purposefully waking up in the middle of the night to check him (although if I wake up on my own, I always check him, because I’m paranoid AF). So on Monday afternoon, after I was done running my errands after work, I pulled up the camera and was very confused to see Presto in the wrong stall. Sadie was still on their side of the fence, but now Presto was in the stall and run with Lissa and Liam. Um. What.
But Michelle was already in the process of moving him back, so I went back through the camera feed to figure out wtf happened. Turns out he wiggled under the fence. It looked fairly accidental, like he’d laid down with his head too close and ended up partway under, then just squirmed his way to the other side. Granted, that’s pretty impressive because the gap under the panels between their runs isn’t even 12″. Luckily Lissa didn’t try to kill him, although she did chase him into the stall and keep him pinned down in there, away from Liam. We figured that it was just a one off scenario, made plans for building up the ground under the panels, and didn’t think much more of it.
Monday night/Tuesday morning Stewie woke me up around 3am having another anxiety attack (he’s been much better since he started his medication but still has them every once in a while). I took him to the guest bedroom, laid with him for a while, and got him calmed down. After about 45 minutes I was finally able to pry him off my neck and rolled over to try to go back to sleep. Then I thought “ya know… I’m just gonna check Presto real quick”. Grab my phone, pull up the camera – he’s in Lissa’s stall. WHAT THE ACTUAL EFF. So I start panicking, because Lissa is really keeping him chased back into the stall fairly aggressively and at that point I had no idea how long he’d been over there (answer – since 2:30). I started calling Michelle, who of course had been up really late getting some non-horse stuff taken care of, so it took me a while to rouse her. When she answered I just said “Presto did it again”. She sprung out of bed, put some shoes on, and drove down to the barn to rescue him. AGAIN. For the second time in 12 hours.
Once, I believe that’s an accident. Twice, in such rapid succession… not so much. That little turd totally squirmed under the fence to go play with Liam. I guess in retrospect it’s not too surprising. The past couple days Presto has become increasingly bored, constantly looking for things to play with.
Point taken, baby horse, you want to go run around and play. We hadn’t been quite ready to put them all out in the bigger pasture yet, but we’d also rather he stop trying to crawl under the panel between their stall runs. Ya know… lest he get stuck or stomped on by an angry mare. So yesterday afternoon he got his way (what else is new) and they all went out together in the big pasture for the first time and got to stay out all afternoon.
First 50 seconds are Presto and Sadie running around, the rest is Liam and Presto playing.
They played pretty much the entire time. Like to the point where they were both so tired they could barely stay upright anymore. But they seemed to have a really great time being colts. Liam is like twice as big as Presto, but Presto is much sneakier so they seem pretty fairly matched.
Meanwhile, this horse is aging me fast. Could you please just not, Presto?
breedrideevent.com 
I could totally see him yelling at you like, “But maaaahm, Liam is my BEST FRIEND!”
LikeLike
Meanwhile Liam’s mom is like “Could you control your HOOLIGAN child, please???”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Obviously you have to take advantage of every milk bar available. He’ll win Lissa over.
LikeLike
She doesn’t let him too close to her, she knows which one is hers. Sadie on the other hand doesn’t care.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Houdini got nothing on this boy. I bet he’ll learn to untie knots and undo latches eventually. He will be the horse that opens gates and stall doors and leads the other horses on an adventure. You’ll be gray haired by 40.
The video is so cute. “I bounce in your vicinity!” “Oh yeah, well, I strike in your general direction!”
Too bad Rory has to miss out on the fun. Will they all three be together eventually, or not?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah once all the mares are re-bred the babies will all be together, at least for a little while.
LikeLike
What a devious little colt!
LikeLike
i could watch them play forever. i don’t know how you get any work done with access to a camera of him. he’s not even my baby and i’d have that ish on auto refresh.
he’s gonna be fuuuuuuuun to start under saddle 😛
LikeLike
When he first came home I kept his camera up pretty much all the time. Now I just check it periodically, although if he starts doing something cute (like yesterday when he turned the big muck tub over and rolled it around) I tend to stop and watch lol.
LikeLike
I want to steal them both and let them out with Joey to play. 🙂 Colts everywhere! I hope mine doesn’t try to escape…Paige would have a heart attack and barrel through the fence to protect him.
LikeLike
As the mother of my own escape artist… I wish you good luck!
LikeLike
He has his mother’s smarts, which is both a wonderful and terrible thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
OMG THE BOUNCY BABY HORSES. I CAN’T. The cuteness is to overwhelming!
LikeLike
He’s so cute, you can’t be toooooo mad 🙂
Question: Will Presto’s growth catch up to Liam/others his age now that he’s not sick? Or will he just be a bit smaller overall?
LikeLike
He should catch up, it’ll probably just take a few months. His development basically got put on pause for 3 weeks while he was sick, so he’s gonna be behind for a little while. Granted, I don’t think Presto will ever be as stout as Liam – he’s a MONSTER. Like for real, he looks more like a 3-4 month old. Plus keep in mind that Presto is almost 75% thoroughbred so they will probably have a different phenotype, although I’d expect them to probably end up around the same height.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a little stinker but gosh, he is the CUTEST!! It’s great that Presto and Liam can be playmates. I agree with Megan, not much else would be getting done if I had access to video of those kids. 🙂
Do you think Presto will catch up to Liam eventually growth-wise? I don’t know how big Mighty Magic is so don’t know what you expected in height, but Sadie seems like a good-sized girl.
LikeLike
Presto’s parents are actually (combined) a bit taller than Liam’s… Mighty Magic is 16.2+ and Sadie is 17h. Liam’s sire is 16.3 and his dam is 16.2. However, Presto has a lot more TB blood in him and will likely be much less hefty and thick in the body. He will catch up to Liam, at least height-wise. 😉 Highly doubtful that he will ever be that thick, though! (at least I hope not, considering he’s supposed to be an eventer)
LikeLike
What a little shit! A smart little shit, but still…
LikeLike
He is his mother’s child. Turds, both of them.
LikeLike
Foals playing is the cutest thing I’ve seen. What a little turd. He’s gonna be a fun adult 😉
LikeLike
Presto is the kid that walks in the front door without knocking to play and ask for cookies because his house is boring.
Also, totally wish I could ship Catalina off to play with other babies. She needs another way to burn off that baby energy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I’ve kinda learned his patterns now as far as when and how long he sleeps, when he’s more active, how often he nurses, etc.” sounds so much less stalker-esque when it’s about a baby horse. 😂
Was missing his baby horse neighz for the first 23 seconds of that video, then “Aahhhh…!”
LikeLike
Yeah, those neighs are still there! lol
LikeLike
This is just like having a very smart kid. ( I had one of those so I know). The younger years can be a real challenge. But in the end …..terrific!
LikeLike
Holy Liam’s neck already. Also, Presto’s canter is already freaking amazing. Love.
LikeLike
Yeaaaaah Liam’s like HI I’M A STUD COLT.
LikeLike
Surprised that P. and L. haven’t already discovered the pull-the-other-guy’s-halter-off game. Well, that will come. Hours of fun!
LikeLike
They’ve done that once!
LikeLike
MISCHIEF MANAGED! 😉 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha what a little shit head!!! Obviously his start to life didn’t knock him down at all 😜
LikeLike
Oh boy… you’re going to have your hands full with him! So naughty! He’s definitely making up for all that time he had to spend resting his first week.
LikeLike
As bless his wee excitable play-with-me heart. Is Sadie particularly adventurous or do you think he get his Houdini tricks from daddy?
LikeLike
Sadie wasn’t super adventurous, but she has always been very smart. A little TOO smart, if you know what I mean. As a young horse, if I didn’t keep her brain interested, she was found evil ways to entertain herself.
LikeLike
She sounds not unlike miss Kika who is my horsey Houdini, guess Presto is really taking the magic from papa to heart 😂
LikeLike
Has Michelle had this happen before? I’ve never heard of a foal being so devious!
LikeLike