Horsing Around With True Friends

I was sitting outside on an old broken fencepost, watching Tuck and Del grazing. The three of us had returned from a camping trip the previous week, and now Tuck and Del and I were over at my friend’s place, resting up for a while after our big outing. I walked over to have a look at Tuck and Del’s tendons, double-checking that there was no swelling or any heat. Standing beside Delbert, a.k.a. Del, I reached my arm around his back, rubbing his shoulder.

“How about we go for a little ride, big brother? It’s a nice afternoon; we won’t go too far, just up and down the field a few times, maybe to the pond.”

Meanwhile, Tuck was rolling around in the long grass, enjoying himself. I picked up Del’s halter off the fence, and just as I was turning around, Del came trotting over to me with his ears pressed forward, excited to go for a little walk around, and grinning away as I slowly put his halter on. Holding the lead rope, I gave Delbert a rub across his neck as I started to jump on. I pulled myself up, swinging my leg over, and slid myself forward until I was sitting right behind Del’s withers. Del and I started across the field at a slow walk, the afternoon sunshine glowing down upon our backs. Tuck was peeking out of the grass, watching us every now and again as we sauntered around the field a few times. I thought to myself, okay let’s go to the pond for a while and play in the water, knowing how much Del loves to play in the water.

As we neared the pond, there was a steep hill to climb, so I began leaning forward as Del made his way up. When Del placed his hooves on the top of the hill, however, we immediately began to slide down the other side of it, right towards the pond. Next thing I knew, I was racing forward off of Del’s back and onto his neck, and with his neck bowed downwards, I sailed right over Del’s head and into the pond at the bottom of the hill. Del came to a stop right in front of me, tilting his head and looking down at me curiously. I just started laughing as I was sitting there in the shallow water, looking up at him.

Then all of a sudden Tuck comes running right down the hill straight into the pond beside me! I closed my eyes as the resulting tidal wave rolled over me, leaving me absolutely soaking wet. Finally, pulling myself back up on my feet, I reached my arms around Tuck and Del. “I love you two,” I said, laughing away.

Christopher Stanley, St. Marys, Ont.