After feeding breakfast to everyone and putting hay out, while Kim did my mucking out, I received the call that the truck was about half an hour away - then the butterflies woke in my stomach! Aarrrggghhhhhh! lol
Kim and I waited out at the roadside for the truck, and sure enough, he soon arrived but turned right instead of left and was heading away from us! *sigh* The driver didn't go far before realising, turned around, and came back to unload. He really wasn't the most chatty of fellows and was in a rush to leave! When I enquired about how the trip went all he said was "ok, pass the lead rope please" ... sheesh! I tried again by asking how Maggie travelled and he informed me he'd already unloaded her and reloaded in Nth Canterbury!!! I was stunned as he was given instruction NOT to do this, and that Maggie was to have a direct trip!!!! grrrrrrr!
She came off calmly though, and when I tried to give her a minute to look around he tried flicking her forward from behind! I couldn't wait to leave him and get her settled, so left Kim to collect the receipt before I said something I might later regret!!!
So Maggie and I slowly made our way up the lane, and Kim soon caught up with us when Maggie constantly stopped to eat grass! When she saw the other horses she stopped and thought about turning and going back, but soon walked forward again with a little encouragement. It took us about 20minutes to walk her to the yards - usually less than a 5 minute walk! - letting her take the time she needed to be ok with this new place.
Once in the yards and lead rope off, she was happy to nibble the hay, drink the water, and eat her hard feed - and this was my "wild" horse?? :-) What a fab job Mark, Lizzie and co have done to get her to this point - thanks guys! Very much! I sat and watched her for an hour or so, just to check the other horses didn't get her wound up, but even they seemed calm and settled like there was nothing new happening! Well, thats a good thing of course, but I was prepared for more... perhaps because she was tired after her huge trip she was more interested in food, and my others were making the most of the beautiful sunshine after the days of rain we'd just had!
As I write this it's almost 3.30pm, and I'm thinking I might go back around to the paddocks to check on everyone, and give Maggie some dinner before settling in for the night. Shame I'm working for the next 3 days and will only be there for half an hour in the morning to feed up, and an hour or so after work for the same before dark, but come Sunday I think I'll take my lunch! lol
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