Farrier Stories
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Story 2:
This series of drawings was started when I decided to come up
with a way to document all of the funny stories that my
husband told me each night when he came home from shoeing. I
added to the scrapbook each year at Christmas time and we
laugh together at the stories, old and new. Please enjoy them
in the humorous light that they were intended.
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"WHICH DO YOU LIKE BETTER, THE HORSE OR THE CROSSTIES?"
-as told by Rob Keesling to his wife, Gina
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All of the "how-to" books on keeping horses advise that a sharp knife be kept nearby at all times in case a horse becomes tangled and needs to be cut free. On this particular day I was glad my hoof knife was sharp when the horse I was working on had a fit in the crossties.
Normally, unless the horse is in danger of injury, I let them extricate themselves - in hopes of discouraging further behavior of the sort. This "equine Einstein" had turned around and wrapped the too-long crossties around his throatlatch. At that point, he had a further burst of intelligence and threw himself down. The torque of the ropes twisted him over onto his back, there he dangled with all 4 feet in the air, flailing wildly. When his eyes started to roll back and his tongue hung out, it became obvious that he wasn't going to be able to free himself.
At the exact instant that I drew back to cut the rope and release this emperiled creature, his owner rounded the corner and yelled "Don't cut that rope!!!". Apparently these ties were brand new and very dear to him, perhaps more so than his now-strangling horse. So, there we stood staring at each other, and at the horse.
About the time that he must have been looking through the Equine Pearly Gates, the horse stopped thrashing around and we were able to get close enough to unhook his halter and set him free. At least we succeeded in preserving the crossties and
the horse.
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