Madie, Where's Your Baby?!!!

I laughed when I saw this - King in the wrong pen with his mother on the outside!

I had company for dinner and had to excuse myself right at dark to go bring in my mares and their foals. I was thankful when I stepped out the door and one of the mares called out a greeting. She was usually close at that time of night, so I was glad the pattern had repeated itself on a night when I was later doing this chore than I should have been.

I grabbed a halter and let myself through the pasture gate, and Madie came to greet me. After exchanging hellos, she followed me into her pen where I had put out hay for her. Then I looked around and realized her foal King was nowhere in sight. I said quickly, more than once, “Madie, where’s your baby?!!!”

I hurriedly put a halter on her, and we went back out into the pasture in the direction from which I had seen her come. Failing light is far from ideal when looking for black ponies, especially against a treed background. Eventually, though, I saw the second mare Rose appearing from the ravine, and my relief was abundant when I saw her with two foals, one of which was King.

I put Madie back in her pen, thinking King would follow her in, but I had more work to do. He was more interested in following Rose and her foal Lettie. I haltered Rose and led her into her pen, and eventually Lettie followed; she too seemed interested in hanging out with her brother. I shut the gate of that pen quickly because I knew from the previous day that King would follow Rose and Lettie into their pen if I let him, as the photo here shows. When King realized he was alone, he finally decided to join his mother in their pen, and I shut the gate for the night. But I had quite a story to tell my dinner guests when I returned to them!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2021

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