Teenage Trouble Maker

Seriously, if my Mustang pony makes it through her "teenage" years without any injuries I will be surprised.
Not only is she a high risk-taker, like loping small circles on snowy icy ground as she's waiting for me to feed in the morning....she pulls stunts like the one she got herself into Christmas Eve morning.

Who me? 

Yep, that is my Luna....after the scene of the Christmas Eve morning crime as we worked to repair fence. We got a call at 8 a.m. from our neighbor who tells us we've got fence down that borders the Ranch horse field in multiple places. Oh, and Luna is running loose with the Ranch horse herd of 30+ horses in a 20+ acre field......and OH- did I forget to mention that we are two hours away at my sister Paint Girl's for the holiday at the time? Talk about feeling helpless!

We called Ranch Boy's mother who lives on the other side of us (and owns 30+ said ranch horses.) They find Luna hanging out with her equine neighbors. Luckily, My Boy, who is too leery and respectful of fencing to even walk over downed wire that is probably not hot, stayed put. It was a Christmas miracle because I never would have caught him amongst the 30 horses and 20 acres!

One of the pastures behind my horse's pasture, that I used to keep My Boy in. It is closed off from my horses right now so that by next spring it can re-grow and be used for grazing. Luna got into this pasture, these are her tracks from her escape in the fresh snow (about 6" fell the night before Christmas Eve, on top of at least 4" we already had!) There was fence down on the left, as well as straight ahead.

The hot-wire tape was off the t-posts there are broken clips in multiple spots. Ranch Boy's mom and our neighbors patched the fence the best they could. RB's mom thought she'd have to get a halter, catch Luna, and lead her out of the herd pasture back to our pasture. But Luna followed her around the whole time so RB's mom just used her belt around her neck, had our neighbor hold down the fence and led her back over!

When we got home several hours later Ranch Boy and I spent 2 hours fixing fence and got it working again. I did remember an incident while feeding my ponies a few days earlier where Luna was touching the top strand with her chest and not reacting like she should have.....I should have made the connection that perhaps the fence was shorting out somewhere and not hot.  Luckily Luna was not hurt and although we don't know if elk or deer messed with the fence first (it had been patched when we got home but seeing how messed up it was from the broken clips, in multiple spots around the pasture, I almost have a hard time believing one little bay mare could do quite that number on it....) However, I am pretty certain she was the culprit as it is not the first time she has escaped.....but I do love how my "wild" pony is so easy to deal with (like catching) after the little teenage messes and escapades she gets herself into! I have no doubt to learn that mustangs are no sissies and open to adventure.....mine only lived in a wild herd until she was about 5 months of age....then she was brought in with her dam to the BLM corrals, where for a year she dealt with that lifestyle. She is not "wild" at all, her heart is very curious- why she'd rather follow people around and look for cookies then run off with her freedom with 30 new friends is beyond me!

Since I am 5 months pregnant and we have snow and ice on the ground, Miss Luna is getting time off to just be a pasture pony and grow, so it is going to be a good wake-up call for her next early summer when she gets a job again!

Happy 2013 everyone~ here's to hoping that our ponies stay safe and warm through the winter and into the new year!!

Ranch Girl