When Crackers gets himself into a sticky situation it is up to Minstrel to get him out
The problem with Minstrel” Chloe mused as she stared at the gate of the field, “is that you are never quite sure if she is muddy or not”. Edward laughed as he unbolted the gate and let the pair of them into the field.
Minstrel was one of the riding schools oldest residents. She was an odd brown colour, a strange mix between a roan and a blanket spot. Her muddy brown coat was covered in speckles which meant that, as Chloe so eloquently put it, you could never quite tell whether she was dirty or not! Of course this had its advantages if you were given Minstrel for pony week. You usually didn’t have to put as much effort into presentation as she naturally hid a lot of her own stable stains and dirt!
The pair walked past the muddy (or not so muddy) horse and headed off down the field to find Crackers. He had, as usual, refused to come when called which meant Chloe had to embark on her almost ritualistic trek to the bottom of the incredibly muddy field to find him.
Normally Minstrel would wait at the top of the field. She was one of those good natured horses who would wait willingly to be brought in and stand patiently whilst small children attempted to tack her and plait her and do various other things to the poor creature. She was patient and good natured, if not a little greedy and lazy, but just what an owner wants in a riding school horse. She was also, unlike pretty much all the other horses with the exception of Billy, quite fond of Crackers. It was not always clear whether her affections were reciprocated but he seemed to tolerate her following him around the place.
Today however was different. Minstrel turned from the gate and followed the pair down the field nudging their backs with her muzzle as they went.
“What on Earth is up with you old girl” Edward said turning to pat her on the neck.
“Probably desperate to come in for her breakfast” Chloe laughed as she prodded the slight fat rolls on Minstrel’s neck.
“Now now, you’re not fat are you, just big boned” Edward laughed as he winked at his sister.
“She’s fat” Chloe stated matter of factly as they continued to trudge down the field.
“Where on Earth is that horse?” Chloe groaned as she stood and stared around the place to try and spot where he was hiding. The field had a slight slope which meant that from the top you couldn’t always see down to the bottom. That often required owners of less obedient horses to walk to the edge of this ridge and shout down it for their horses. As with many other animals it is well known that a horse in a field cannot hear their owner calling until they are either very close or at least within sight and Crackers was no exception to this rule.
Minstrel walked past them and started to head towards the small wooded area at the bottom of the field that surrounded a pond which formed a brilliant water source for the horses. When she noticed that Chloe and Edward were not following her she stopped, turned and nickered to them.
“What does she want?” Chloe said and turned to Edward “it’s almost like she wants us to follow her”.
“CRACKERS” Chloe screamed at the top of her voice “Come here you little piece of…”
“Maybe, we should follow her?” Edward cut Chloe off before she exposed everyone in the surrounding countryside to her profanity.
“I am not in an episode of Lassie” Chloe grumbled “I very much doubt little Timmy is stuck down the well”.
Edward shot a glance at his sister and started to head down the field. It was , after all, her horse that repeatedly refused to come in to the yard, not his and he wasn’t quite sure why he had to join in this expedition to find and retrieve him. That said he was slightly concerned by Minstrel’s behaviour. Several years ago when one of the elderly ponies had passed away over night Minstrel had jumped the gate and almost broken down the door to the house in an attempt to alert Lisa and Hazel to the problem.
Chloe groaned and followed her brother (and the chubby horse who was now leading them) down to the bottom of the field.
On the outskirts of the small grove of trees stood Billy and a couple of the other livery horses that had not been brought in yet. But there was no Crackers in the small herd. It was not unusual for him to be off doing his own thing but Billy would normally be following him like a loyal dog, or at least be close by.
From inside the grove came the strangest noise that they had ever heard. It was at this point that Chloe’s annoyance started to turn to panic. This was not like Crackers at all, he was naughty and lazy and disobedient but he didn’t often completely vanish. And he certainly had never hid in the trees to get away from his breakfast before. She turned to look at her brother and they both rushed into the grove of trees.
At the bottom of the small slope that led down to the pond a strange, brown, mud covered creature was lying on its side and thrashing around.
“Crackers?!?!??!” Chloe shouted in a mix of confusion and panic as she ran down the slope to see the mud creature.
Minstrel stood watching from the top of the slope as Edward carefully made his way down to join his sister.
It was unclear what had happened but it appeared that Crackers had somehow fallen down the bank and got himself slightly wedged between a pair of tree stumps that had been felled the year before. Not being the brightest of animals he had then panicked and instead of getting himself out of the situation he had just rolled around in the mud and made things worse.
“What are we going to do?!?!? EDWARD?!?!?” Chloe screamed at her brother in a completely panicked state.
“CALM DOWN” Edward shouted at her hitting her on the arm as he did it, “We need to keep him calm so that he doesn’t make the situation any worse, then we can see if we can get him out, but first I’m going to call Lisa up at the yard to come down and give us a hand”.
He pulled out his phone and headed back up the slope to find signal whilst Chloe sat down next to Crackers and attempted to get him to relax. Her attempts didn’t seem to be doing much good and he continued to thrash around in the mud making the slope more slippy and covering himself and Chloe in a combination of water and sludge.
“Please Crackers, you need to stay calm, you’re just making things worse” Chloe whimpered as she stroked his neck and made soothing noises. At which point he yanked his head up and then attempted a roll which had the effect of wedging him further on his back.
It was at this point that Chloe heard a loud splash. Minstrel had jumped down the slope and into the water and was now stood sniffing Crackers as he lay there. Her presence seemed to calm him and he started to lie still. She then started to paw the ground next to his quarters with her hoof. Chloe could see from the ground that she had been attempting this earlier and watched as he slid slightly when she did it.
“Of course! You’re a genius Minstrel”. By widening the mud around the two stumps it allowed him space to move more and hopefully right himself without too much intervention. Getting down on her knees she started to dig the other side and between the two of them they widened the gap between Crackers and the surrounding area.
It seemed like forever before Edward came back but just as he stepped into the trees with Lisa by his side Crackers rear end slipped backwards and horse, mud and Chloe suddenly jolted upwards off the bank.
“Hoorah!” Edward shouted, “well done Chloe, looks like you don’t need us after all” he smiled at his sister as he walked down and fixed the headcollar around Crackers head.
Chloe looked up at him from the mud where she was now standing and attempted to wipe the sludge from her face.
“Don’t look at me” she spluttered as dirty water dripped onto her lips “It was all Minstrel”
“Well done Minstrel” Lisa smiled as she patter her horse. “Looks like you’ve earned a carrot today, come on let’s get you both in for a good bath”.
The three of them trudged back up the field with two very mud covered ponies.
“I think you should go and have a shower” Edward said as he looked his sister up and down. “Lisa and I can wash Crackers and check him over”.
Chloe smiled and headed off towards the house. After her shower and wearing some clean clothes she headed out to find Edward and Crackers.
“He’s absolutely fine” he smiled, “although I don’t know what we would have done without Minstrel, you’re a real hero” He smiled as he handed her a carrot and gave her a pat on the neck.
Minstrel was one of the riding schools oldest residents. She was an odd brown colour, a strange mix between a roan and a blanket spot. Her muddy brown coat was covered in speckles which meant that, as Chloe so eloquently put it, you could never quite tell whether she was dirty or not! Of course this had its advantages if you were given Minstrel for pony week. You usually didn’t have to put as much effort into presentation as she naturally hid a lot of her own stable stains and dirt!
The pair walked past the muddy (or not so muddy) horse and headed off down the field to find Crackers. He had, as usual, refused to come when called which meant Chloe had to embark on her almost ritualistic trek to the bottom of the incredibly muddy field to find him.
Normally Minstrel would wait at the top of the field. She was one of those good natured horses who would wait willingly to be brought in and stand patiently whilst small children attempted to tack her and plait her and do various other things to the poor creature. She was patient and good natured, if not a little greedy and lazy, but just what an owner wants in a riding school horse. She was also, unlike pretty much all the other horses with the exception of Billy, quite fond of Crackers. It was not always clear whether her affections were reciprocated but he seemed to tolerate her following him around the place.
Today however was different. Minstrel turned from the gate and followed the pair down the field nudging their backs with her muzzle as they went.
“What on Earth is up with you old girl” Edward said turning to pat her on the neck.
“Probably desperate to come in for her breakfast” Chloe laughed as she prodded the slight fat rolls on Minstrel’s neck.
“Now now, you’re not fat are you, just big boned” Edward laughed as he winked at his sister.
“She’s fat” Chloe stated matter of factly as they continued to trudge down the field.
“Where on Earth is that horse?” Chloe groaned as she stood and stared around the place to try and spot where he was hiding. The field had a slight slope which meant that from the top you couldn’t always see down to the bottom. That often required owners of less obedient horses to walk to the edge of this ridge and shout down it for their horses. As with many other animals it is well known that a horse in a field cannot hear their owner calling until they are either very close or at least within sight and Crackers was no exception to this rule.
Minstrel walked past them and started to head towards the small wooded area at the bottom of the field that surrounded a pond which formed a brilliant water source for the horses. When she noticed that Chloe and Edward were not following her she stopped, turned and nickered to them.
“What does she want?” Chloe said and turned to Edward “it’s almost like she wants us to follow her”.
“CRACKERS” Chloe screamed at the top of her voice “Come here you little piece of…”
“Maybe, we should follow her?” Edward cut Chloe off before she exposed everyone in the surrounding countryside to her profanity.
“I am not in an episode of Lassie” Chloe grumbled “I very much doubt little Timmy is stuck down the well”.
Edward shot a glance at his sister and started to head down the field. It was , after all, her horse that repeatedly refused to come in to the yard, not his and he wasn’t quite sure why he had to join in this expedition to find and retrieve him. That said he was slightly concerned by Minstrel’s behaviour. Several years ago when one of the elderly ponies had passed away over night Minstrel had jumped the gate and almost broken down the door to the house in an attempt to alert Lisa and Hazel to the problem.
Chloe groaned and followed her brother (and the chubby horse who was now leading them) down to the bottom of the field.
On the outskirts of the small grove of trees stood Billy and a couple of the other livery horses that had not been brought in yet. But there was no Crackers in the small herd. It was not unusual for him to be off doing his own thing but Billy would normally be following him like a loyal dog, or at least be close by.
From inside the grove came the strangest noise that they had ever heard. It was at this point that Chloe’s annoyance started to turn to panic. This was not like Crackers at all, he was naughty and lazy and disobedient but he didn’t often completely vanish. And he certainly had never hid in the trees to get away from his breakfast before. She turned to look at her brother and they both rushed into the grove of trees.
At the bottom of the small slope that led down to the pond a strange, brown, mud covered creature was lying on its side and thrashing around.
“Crackers?!?!??!” Chloe shouted in a mix of confusion and panic as she ran down the slope to see the mud creature.
Minstrel stood watching from the top of the slope as Edward carefully made his way down to join his sister.
It was unclear what had happened but it appeared that Crackers had somehow fallen down the bank and got himself slightly wedged between a pair of tree stumps that had been felled the year before. Not being the brightest of animals he had then panicked and instead of getting himself out of the situation he had just rolled around in the mud and made things worse.
“What are we going to do?!?!? EDWARD?!?!?” Chloe screamed at her brother in a completely panicked state.
“CALM DOWN” Edward shouted at her hitting her on the arm as he did it, “We need to keep him calm so that he doesn’t make the situation any worse, then we can see if we can get him out, but first I’m going to call Lisa up at the yard to come down and give us a hand”.
He pulled out his phone and headed back up the slope to find signal whilst Chloe sat down next to Crackers and attempted to get him to relax. Her attempts didn’t seem to be doing much good and he continued to thrash around in the mud making the slope more slippy and covering himself and Chloe in a combination of water and sludge.
“Please Crackers, you need to stay calm, you’re just making things worse” Chloe whimpered as she stroked his neck and made soothing noises. At which point he yanked his head up and then attempted a roll which had the effect of wedging him further on his back.
It was at this point that Chloe heard a loud splash. Minstrel had jumped down the slope and into the water and was now stood sniffing Crackers as he lay there. Her presence seemed to calm him and he started to lie still. She then started to paw the ground next to his quarters with her hoof. Chloe could see from the ground that she had been attempting this earlier and watched as he slid slightly when she did it.
“Of course! You’re a genius Minstrel”. By widening the mud around the two stumps it allowed him space to move more and hopefully right himself without too much intervention. Getting down on her knees she started to dig the other side and between the two of them they widened the gap between Crackers and the surrounding area.
It seemed like forever before Edward came back but just as he stepped into the trees with Lisa by his side Crackers rear end slipped backwards and horse, mud and Chloe suddenly jolted upwards off the bank.
“Hoorah!” Edward shouted, “well done Chloe, looks like you don’t need us after all” he smiled at his sister as he walked down and fixed the headcollar around Crackers head.
Chloe looked up at him from the mud where she was now standing and attempted to wipe the sludge from her face.
“Don’t look at me” she spluttered as dirty water dripped onto her lips “It was all Minstrel”
“Well done Minstrel” Lisa smiled as she patter her horse. “Looks like you’ve earned a carrot today, come on let’s get you both in for a good bath”.
The three of them trudged back up the field with two very mud covered ponies.
“I think you should go and have a shower” Edward said as he looked his sister up and down. “Lisa and I can wash Crackers and check him over”.
Chloe smiled and headed off towards the house. After her shower and wearing some clean clothes she headed out to find Edward and Crackers.
“He’s absolutely fine” he smiled, “although I don’t know what we would have done without Minstrel, you’re a real hero” He smiled as he handed her a carrot and gave her a pat on the neck.