Saturday, October 10, 2009

A Mystery on the Arabian Horse Breeding Farm

There have been some mysteries here over the years I've been breeding horses. Most of the time they've ended up being more about communication between the principles here......Dave, Lindsay and me or some goofy thing an equine contributed to. They've been little things that made me go, "What in the heck..........." but nothing odd or creepy that would be until now.

Lindsay asked me today at lunch what the deal was with stuffed animals in the horses stalls. Since I've been known to give the horses odd things for toys a time or two, I guess I can understand why Lindsay figured I had knew what was happening..........but in all honesty, I had no clue.

I have to admit I did give a stuffed animal to one horse but that's been years ago. It was actually a stuffed horse and the proud recipient was Rhythm. He loved tossing that poor horsey around playing more like a puppy than any horse but it kept the colt occupied and that was what mattered.

However, stuffed animals aren't the best toy for a horse that's stalled. As you can imagine they soak up urine and get pretty matted with poop. Rhythm's stuffed horse probably died more from my washing than it did his abuse. I've never really been inclined to toss another stuffed animal into a stall...........it was just that one time............and an odd inkling at that.

I asked Lindsay for specifics about this current stuffed animal situation. She relayed to me first she found one in Tag's stall when she was cleaning. It was partially torn with stuffing emerging from the extremities. The following day a similar toy appeared. This time it was in Dancer's stall. This second creature was torn as well but Lindsay assumed the horses were the ones doing the tearing.

Right after our conversation I went out to the barn to work Gypcy. As I was bending over applying her polo wraps I spied another stuffed creature with stuffing bursting out of its extremities. I don't know about the others because those I still haven't seen but this one I found in Gypcy's stall is actually a stuffed snowman..........and it's not a snowman I've ever seen before.

Up until this time I was thinking maybe one of our cats, Jasmine or Squeaker, had gotten into some of the toys stored in the loft of our barn. Both cats have been known to go investigating only to return with some of their loot. Their really kind of silly about it acting like they caught something really special..............special to me would be more like rodents.....but those darn cats purr just like that's what they've done.

If the cats are not the culprits, which I doubt they are, there in lies the mystery. Where in the heck are these things coming from? It sounds more like a people kind of thing to me...........but WHO? It's not Lindsay, Dave or I and we don't have people coming and going.........but these things are coming from somewhere. Any thoughts?

7 comments:

  1. LOL! I think you need to check the loft and the puppies' teeth for stuffing! If they're not the culprits then I would guess mice, squirrels, chipmunk, or a possum looking for nesting material for the winter.

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  2. Cheri, the puppies can't even get to the loft AND even if they could these are not anything from my loft. Trust me when I say I know everything that is up there and I am positive these just aren't from there. Even if I have forgotten an item or two, these are just NOT my style. LOL

    DJ, I've never seen raccoons anywhere around here. Not even as roadkill. But if it was, it would seem odd to me that critters would carry something onto my place, let alone get them in three adjacent stalls.

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  3. I have no ideas but it is a cute story. I love to watch horses play with toys.

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  4. Has anything gone missing? A Pack Rat will carry something until it gets distracted by something else and it will drop what it's carrying in favor of the "new" item. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't drop a stuffy for scraps of grain.

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  5. I would set up cameras, as this scares me, to me, this is scary... What if some deranged person is sneaking into your farm and cutting up these toys and putting them in the horse stalls... Which that thought scares me, as what if this is a warning, what if your horses are next? Not something I'd be willing to risk, with horses like yours. SET UP CAMRERAS!

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  6. I thought pack rats too...but I'm in favor of cameras. Just to be sure. That is a little creepy.

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