So I get this text from the barn owner yesterday morning…

So the little boys had an epic night. I woke out of a dead sleep at 2:30 and got up trying to figure out what startled me. Looked out the back windows, nothing. So I got back in bed. But I woke J up who now needed to go to the bathroom. He goes down the hall to use the one in the hall, so as not to wake me if I fell back to sleep. And he’s back a few moments later saying, um there is a horse in the back yard. 

I throw on my PJ pants and run out the slider to find Quinnie and Presto happily munching grass in the yard. And there are like 6-7 poos out there, so they’ve been out for a while. I run around the side to find the pasture gate wide open. The latches and everything still intact. I grab two halters and by then I see JB rounding the corner of the house to come back to the pasture. Apparently he had been eating the grass in the raised garden and came to find me when he heard my voice. The others followed him and with no effort, they were all back in the pasture.

We can’t see anything to indicate how that gate got open. We don’t go through there to feed. And it swings open if unlatched…it doesn’t stay if it isn’t actually latched, so we know it was closed at night check. But they were out there for hours. Had a total rave. There are poos by the tractor. Foot prints around the whole yard. Toni’s [the stallion] electric gate tape was played with. Things moved. The end of the path torn up. 11 poos in total. But everyone was fine. 

Hmmm… I WONDER WHO MIGHT HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS? I dunno y’all. This type of crime certainly has Presto’s name written all over it. If the latch had been broken, I miiiiight be more likely to blame JB – he likes to push on the gate. But reaching over the gate and opening a clip seems more sophisticated than JB’s usual style.

I’m not sure if the court can completely absolve Quinnie though, the mare in charge of the two babydiots. She does have a history of letting herself out of her stall. BUT typically she does that because she’s ready to go out or wants food, and… she was already out, with a round bale (her most favorite possession)… not much more that Quinnie wants out of life than that. I also feel like she takes her job of raising these babies pretty seriously and would not sponsor such tomfoolery as gallivanting around the yard in the middle of the night.

But there IS another horse in this trio that has a history of opening things, and that would be the long-legged giraffe-like creature named PRESTO. There was the time he let himself out of his stall and absolutely destroyed the barn, also letting Henry out of his stall in the process. And we’re pretty sure he’s also the one that got into the feed room a couple months ago by somehow twisting the doorknob open (we’ve since caught him working at that doorknob on a couple other occasions, but it’s been Presto-proofed now from the inside).

To add to my suspicion, he tends to play with his ball a lot at night, but right now the current ball is pretty much dead (the new one should be here today) so it’s not really play-with-able in Presto’s eyes. So… in lieu of a good midnight romp with his ball, did he open the gate and go for a romp through the yard instead? The court can’t rule for sure, but it’s certainly plausible. Let’s hope that, whoever it was, they don’t repeat that performance and it was just a one-time fluke. Nothing quite like waking up at 2am to find loose horses and chaos.

I’ve been considering some additional toys/distractions for Presto lately. I was really wanting to find one of those 10′ long rectangular inflatable pools, I feel like he would have a total heyday with that, especially since it’s so hot. But apparently those pools are like THE hot item of the summer, because they’re totally sold out at most places, or the price has been jacked way up beyond what is reasonable (they used to be $26 at Walmart and now I’m seeing the exact same one online for $80+… considering it’s likely to be destroyed within days, I’m not into paying that much). But I did order Presto another toy though, one that I’ve been meaning to get for a long time and keep forgetting about.

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a huge-ass rubber chicken. He loves things that he can pick up and toss around, especially if they make noise. Remember his love of plastic jugs with rocks in them? This particular giant rubber chicken is advertised as being able to scream for up to 45 seconds. We gon’ find out.

What does the jury say? How did the gate get opened? Who did it?