by Jan Fielden
Sundance is such a sweet horse. Saturday, I brushed her for a long, long time. When she would get tired of being brushed on one side, she would turn around so I could brush the other side. She even would put her leg out towards me for me to brush it. I was talking to her in a very soft, almost a whisper, voice. One time I looked at her face, and discovered she was going to sleep. I had cleaned her water tub out before I started brushing her. She had already seen the brush, smelled of it, and stepped forward for me to start brushing.
I know she is lonely because her herd (cows) are in another pasture and she is all alone. I think from time to time about getting another horse to be a companion to her but I worry about her getting a raw deal. We did that one time with another horse and the two of them fought all the time. It just didn’t work out and I always felt that the one I was closest to got the worst part of the deal. I was sorry she had to put up with that during the end of her life here. So, I decided I would never do that again. Either get two at a time or just have one.
Sundance was hot and sweaty, so I led her to get a drink and then I stepped back. She turned to keep her eyes on me because she was not ready to call it quits and she believed I might be getting ready to go (at least that’s what I thought she believed!). So, after she got her drink, she started licking the side of the tub. I said, Sundance, if you want salt you know it is down in your stable so go down there. She turned away from me, walked down to her stable and I think she licked her salt block! The Red Oak Ranch has animals that understand what you say to them!
