This is my mate Major.
I haven’t had a lot to do with horses in my life; I have been horseriding in the Megalong Valley twice and I knew one friend at school who owned a horse, but I have always thought they were a little like very large dogs. Since I moved here I have had the pleasure of getting to know the two horses that share the paddock next door, I have become enthralled by their beauty and gentleness.
Their owner is a young lady that I have had the opportunity to chat with. Not knowing much about horses, I saw her one day and asked about my equine neighbours. Why, for instance, does the male horse wear a blanket now that winter is here but the female does not? She told me that the male who was named “Major”, was around 15 years old and had spent most of his life in a warmer climate so he needed a winter blanket whilst the female who was named “Hey You” was about 30 years of age and had spent most of her life here so was used to the colder weather and she also had a much thicker coat than Major. Well there you go, makes sense when you know that sort of thing. I asked her if she would mind if I gave them a carrot or an apple every now and then and she said that was fine with her.
I am pleased to say that since I began my relationship with these two lovely animals, I have gotten a great deal of pleasure from their attentions. Mind you I do realise that they only love me for my food. Major was not shy in coming over to the fence for something to eat but Hey You was a different matter. Apparently she had spent 10 years by herself in a paddock with only a little human interaction. She had not been given a name; the lady told me when she first took ownership of her she had to follow her all over the paddock calling out “Hey You” before she finally was able to catch her so the name "Hey You" stuck. She did not come to the fence to see me but hung around in the back ground so I used to throw her a couple of pieces of carrot.
It has now been about 3 months since my first attempt at making friends with these beautiful creatures and I am excited that they come to the fence and seek me out. Of course it is for the food but, what the heck, I love it. Hey You will now take food from my hand and let me stroke her muzzle and face. Major on the other hand has been letting me do this from the beginning and he lets me wipe the boogies from his eyes with a tissue. He is such a sweetie but is really tall when he stands up straight and towers over me. I was a little nervous at first because of his size but we have gotten to know each other now and I am a bit more brave.
Every now and then their owner moves them to another paddock for a few days. I always miss them when they are not there. When they came back after a week somewhere else and we were all glad to see each other. I fed them both some apple and carrot and Major was trying to shoo Hey You away and keep me all to himself. This used to work in the beginning when Hey You was still getting used to me but she has started to stand her ground.
I am so grateful to be living here with the ability to interact with the various animals that live here. I also believe Rocky and Lou Lou are loving it here though Rocky is very jealous of me paying attention to the horses. Can’t blame him really considering his previous life. He barks at Major but Major couldn’t care less and takes no notice. I have to put Rocky in the house when it is feeding time for my equine friends.
I have observed Major when there is another horse in the vicinity, for example, if a car and horse float pulls up near the paddock, he gallops around, snorting and kicking his back legs. Once when I was in the front yard and Major was carrying on, he kicked a large clod of dried horse poo that sailed through the air and landed quite near me. Rocky, who was with me at the time, jumped straight in and started to eat it.
When their owner takes Major for a ride, Hey You is constantly in motion all over the paddock and trots up and down the fence line waiting for him to return. She certainly gets plenty of exercise then.
Being winter, there is not a lot of feed left in the paddock and my two friends have been elsewhere for the last 2 weeks. I miss them but no doubt when they return I will hear Major whinnying to me as if to say, well I am back now, come and give me a carrot.
Love it!
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