Fetching Pearl

Pearl coming to me - what a blessing! - and Ace, my Aussie puppy companion

It was nearing the end of daylight hours when I headed out with my two Australian Shepherds. Our objective was to fetch my new Fell Pony Pearl in for the night.  I had put her out on the hill with the rest of the ponies, but the day before when I had done the same thing, she had not stayed with them.  She had met me at the gate at the barn, and I had put her in.  This time, Pearl didn’t meet me at the gate, but when I found the main herd on the hill, Pearl was not with them either.  Apparently the mares still weren’t letting Pearl hang at the periphery of the herd.  I had hoped one of the mares had befriended her, but I was wrong.

It had been snowing lightly all day, so I thought I would be able to track Pearl to her location.  I was able to rule out one direction of travel, but in the other direction, the wild turkeys had been there before me and had scratched away pony tracks if there had been any.  As I contemplated where to look next, I saw in the distance some steers looking over the pasture fence, so I headed in their direction in case Pearl was the object of their gaze.

After walking the eighth of a mile west, I found that indeed the steers had correctly communicated to me Pearl’s whereabouts.  Across a ravine, the pony herd watched me closely from a distance as I approached Pearl.  I was thrilled when she came walking toward me, though I sighed a little dejectedly to see her tail and forelock sticking out at right angles due to Pearl discovering cockleburs during her day out.  That was a problem I could deal with later.  My more immediate concern was getting Pearl back to the barn without ‘help’ from the rest of the herd.  Especially since the path to the barn narrowed considerably along the fence at the top of the ravine.

After haltering her, Pearl and I began walking along the fence bordering the steer pasture then along the first paddock called the windbreak.  Bless my puppy Ace for his companionship, but he could sense that things were a little tense and he wanted to be right in front of me on the narrow path, essentially underfoot.  The steers from their side of the fence were fascinated and watched the three of us keenly.  And on the other side, the mares were watching from across the ravine.  I was pleased that Pearl remained calm about the steers since they were so close at hand and that she was accustomed to having Ace around her feet. 

The mares watching Pearl, Ace and I walking along the fence

Then my fears were realized when the mares started coming towards us, down into the ravine and then back up on our side at speed.  Pearl also saw this change and became more concerned.  I quickly assessed our options while I put myself between Pearl and the other ponies.  I didn’t have an extra lead rope to use to drive the other mares farther away, and they tried to crowd us whenever I didn't swing the end of Pearl’s lead at them.

I decided my best option was to go into the windbreak and take our chances with the steers who were following us on their side of the fence, rather than fend off five mares all the way back to the barn on a narrow path.  The first gate we came to required more work to operate than I could manage while holding off the herd.  The next gate not too far ahead I had used once before, so we headed for that, with me looking over my shoulder to make sure the mares didn’t get too close to Pearl and possibly push her into me.  And of course trying not to trip on Ace.  The good news was that Pearl, while very concerned, was willing to listen to me, stopping and starting when I did and letting me get around her to drive the herd back when I needed to, with neither of us stepping on Ace.

I got the gate open while occasionally pushing the mares back, but it didn’t open very far, so I had to convince a reluctant Pearl that going through the narrow opening was a better option than staying out with the mares.  Fortunately she finally agreed, and I got the gate shut behind us.  Whew!  Now I could assess our next obstacle.  Who needs games when real life can be this entertaining!

Tika pushing heifers a few weeks before, showing me she knew the job!

There were about two dozen steers at the top of the windbreak where the gate out to the road was.  At that moment I was very thankful that my neighbor Bruce had suggested that we test my dog Tika on a herd of heifers a few weeks back to check out her working instincts.  I learned that day that she was willing to push the herd from the rear and more importantly that she would stop when I told her she’d pushed enough.  So I told Tika to push, and she moved the steers away from us until I told her to stop, and we got to the gate and then out onto the road without any steers joining us.

I didn’t realize that getting to the road wasn’t the end of our obstacles.  There was one more test of Pearl’s and my relationship to come.  Pearl hadn’t ever been on the ranch road, and between the windbreak and the barn were several paddocks of bulls.  It turned out that they weren’t as much cause for concern as something else.  I let my guard down a little, only to have Pearl suddenly start trotting by me.  On the other side of the road were my neighbor Linda’s two horses who had apparently been watching the unfolding drama of fetching Pearl.  They had decided they should add to the game by galloping by us on their side of the fence.  And then in response the mares began galloping along the fence on the other side of the bulls.  I was once again pleased when Pearl came back down to a walk when I asked despite all the high equine energy around us.

Pearl has been here over two weeks already, but I hadn’t felt ready to put her on the hill until now.  I wanted to establish a relationship with her so that she knew what she could expect from me and I knew what I could expect from her.  For instance, Pearl needed to know that my approach is friendly, and I needed to know she wouldn’t run the other way when she saw me.  I needed to know that I could lead her without her running into me, and she needed to know that I could ask her to do things that seemed odd but ended up being worthwhile.  Those two weeks of bonding certainly proved their worth on our obstacle-filled walk back to the barn.  And ever since, Pearl has been even more interested in interacting with me.  She apparently finds this life entertaining, too!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

There are lots of stories like this one about my life with Fell Ponies in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.